Im considering starting the process and as the title says, I’m 25 years old. Why? Well I don’t see myself having kids but I don’t want to fully close myself out to that possibility. I’m lucky enough to have the means to do so via my insurance. Is 25 too young to start this process?
I’m a 41-year-old virgin woman with an AMH of 1.8 (September), 2.3 (January), and 2.9 (May). I’ve been postponing egg freezing for the past five months because of a combination of fear, uncertainty, and my personal circumstances.
I'm terrified of losing the few remote chances of having a baby I long (I've cared for everyone-familiy, friends, volunteering, religious vocation) due to my medical fears.
Before anything else, I want to say that I’m not judging anyone else’s choices or family model. I completely respect women who choose different paths. I’m only explaining my own emotional and practical circumstances so people can understand why this process has been so difficult for me.
The reasons I’ve kept delaying this decision are:
I’m a virgin and I’ve never used tampons or had any kind of vaginal penetration.
After spending a year trying to find a husband, I’ve come to realize that my chances of having the stable marriage I always dreamed of are very small. For emotional and practical reasons, I don’t think single motherhood is the right choice for me. My only close family are my parents, who are both 77 years old, so I wouldn’t have another adult to share parenting responsibilities with.
The gynecologist tried to examine my hymen. As soon as he tried to insert his fingers into the vaginal opening, I experienced pain, and he was unable to determine what type of hymen I have. Even without being able to examine it properly, he immediately said that I definitely need a hymenectomy before egg retrieval and he won't Accept me as patiebt without It.
I’ve been to several fertility clinics and have received advice that is consistent in some areas but contradictory in others.
My mother’s Catholic gynecologist, who recommended the fertility clinic where I’ve had most of my consultations, told me:
* I would probably bleed similarly to a first sexual intercourse (but he hasn't taken into account what the other gyn said that due to my age my hymen is so rigid that the bleeding would be too much)
* A transrectal ultrasound should be sufficient, so I wouldn’t need transvaginal ultrasounds
However, the gynecologist at that fertility clinic told me something different:
* He believes that, because of my age, my hymen is so rigid and that even a first sexual intercourse could cause heavy bleeding, which is why he requieres an hymenectomy.
* He also told me that he has never performed an egg retrieval on a virgin woman, so he doesn’t know exactly what would happen in my case. However, he thinks the most painful part would be tearing the hymen if a hymenectomy isn’t performed beforehand.
* He believes transrectal ultrasounds are technically feasible because the distance between the rectum and the ovaries is very small, although they are usually more uncomfortable than transvaginal ultrasounds.
I feel incredibly lost because there is so little information available about virgin women going through egg freezing. Between the conflicting medical opinions, my lack of gynecological experience, the loneliness of this process, fear, and the grief of not having been able to build the family I always hoped for, this has become one of the hardest experiences of my life.
I would be deeply grateful to hear from women who have gone through egg freezing, especially if you were also virgins at the time, although I truly appreciate any experiences.
My questions are:
Were you a virgin when you froze your eggs?
If so, did you have a hymenectomy beforehand, or did the egg retrieval itself tear your hymen?
Did you experience significant bleeding afterward?
What kind of pain did you experience, both from the egg retrieval itself and from having medical instruments inserted if nothing had ever entered your vagina before?
If you had transrectal ultrasounds instead of transvaginal ones, what was your experience? Were they manageable throughout the stimulation process?
How did you cope emotionally before and after the procedure? Did it change the way you felt about your virginity or affect you emotionally afterward?
Did you go through more than one egg-freezing cycle? If so, how many?
How old were you, what was your AMH, and how many eggs were you ultimately able to freeze?
Thank you so much to anyone willing to share their experience. Reading real stories from women who have actually been through this would mean far more to me than general medical information. Right now, I feel like I’m facing one of the biggest decisions of my life with very little guidance and a great deal of fear.
Ps. It's my first time in Reddit so I apologize for anything not well versed while explaining my suffering. I wanna add that don't ha e vaginismus simply I waited to be in love for intercourse and then forgot that caring for other didn't filled the void that I misses not having a husband and children. Now, that I know how to label my longing I don't Santa yo lose the chance
AMH: 1.1
I went into this cycle hopeful despite my low AMH, and the follicle count on monitoring actually had me feeling optimistic— I’m still processing it, but I want to turn this into something useful for my next cycle instead of just sitting in the disappointment.
Protocol: Birth control pills from cycle day 4 → stims day 9 (Letrozole 5mg, Gonal-F 300u, Menopur 150u, increased to 225u on day 3). Cetrotide 250mcg added day 4 of stims.
June 26 monitoring: Estradiol 146 pg/mL, lead follicle 20.7mm (others 17.4, 15.1, 13.6, 13.9, 9.0, 6.1, 4.8). I actually raised concern that the estradiol seemed low for that follicle count, but was told it was just the Letrozole.
June 27:
2pm : Gonal-F,
10:15pm: Dual trigger (hCG/Novarel 10,000u + Cetrotide)
June 28 evening: Hit with severe stomach pain — in hindsight, wondering if that was a sign something was already off.
June 29 retrieval: Only 2 eggs. Told I’d ovulated early.
It’s hard not to second-guess every decision along the way, especially since I did flag the estradiol issue and was reassured it was fine. Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through early ovulation or a similarly rough cycle — what did you or your doctor change afterward? What questions should I be bringing to my RE before the next round?
Thank you for reading this far — this community has been a lifeline through an otherwise isolating process. 🙏
Hello! Has anyone frozen their eggs without using hormones or any medications at all? Is that even possible? I'm just starting to research this. One doctor has already told me that at least Clomid is required.
Just turned 33 and am in Spain for freezing due to cost in the US. I’m on day 9 of stims and it’s going horribly. Basically just not working at all. I had a low amh going into it (fell from 1.18 in September to .9 at last testing, I think in May), so my expectations were measured, but I had 14 follicles on day 1, so I was more hopeful. At my scan today, only one has grown big enough to retrieve and only like 2 others are big enough to measure. I am continuing stims and going back Monday for a scan but I think it’s likely that I will get maybe 1, maybe 0 from this round. Terrible. It seems like such a huge waste of money.
I am doing another back to back round afterward and people say it’s often better the second time, but even then “better” could mean..3? So not really great. Is it even worth it to pay storage fees for that??
I’m just feeling really sad and hopeless about the future. I feel like the big things people talk about that give life meaning (falling in love, having kids) are just not available to me and that feels so upsetting and unfair. I know I can’t tell the future but I have 33 years of evidence telling me that what I want is out of reach, so I’m finding it very hard to be hopeful about any sort of meaningful future right now
Hi everyone,
I’m looking into elective egg freezing in Melbourne and would really appreciate any experiences or advice.
I’m lesbian (31years) and don’t have any known fertility issues, so this would be elective egg freezing for future family planning. I’m trying to decide on a clinic and honestly finding it quite overwhelming.
I’ve been looking at Adora Fertility because it seems more affordable compared to the larger clinics like Monash IVF and Melbourne IVF. My plan would likely be to do 2–3 egg freezing cycles to try and maximise egg numbers, and then decide later (in a couple of years) about using donor sperm and next steps.
The only issue is, Adora does not import sperm into VIC/do pgt genetic testing. So i do need to transer my frozen eggs in the future, I would like to go Melbourne IVF, based on their success rates/access to donor sperm but i really cant afford it right now. So hence going through a more affordable clinic?
I had a few questions:
Has anyone here gone through Adora for egg freezing? How was your experience?
Are there any concerns about lab quality or outcomes compared to the bigger clinics?
Has anyone transferred frozen eggs from one clinic to another later on? How straightforward is that process?
Any other Melbourne clinic recommendations for elective egg freezing?
At this stage I don’t want to create embryos yet—I’m feeling really stressed about making too many decisions all at once, so I’d prefer to freeze eggs now and decide later.
Thanks so much in advance.
Comment faites vous pour avoir des amies à Genève?
Hi everyone,
I am coming with yet another post regarding egg retrieval post recovery. I had 17 eggs retrieved but 31 follicles in total (most of them empty), and a very difficult recovery. I had mild OHSS, the 12 days after the retrieval were quite awful, my belly was huge and swollen, I could not walk the first 6 days, I had sharp pain, nausea, diziness. I was given medication till my periods to keep the hormones down. Fast forward, I got my periods on day 13 after retrieval, and as expected the swoleness went down, and I felt much better. The periods lasted around 8 days.
After my periods I noticed that I had mild pain and mild swoleness in my belly again. A few days later (a week after my period), around 25 days after retrieval (3 days ago basically), my belly started swelling again, and the pain in my lower belly returned... It's there throughout the day and becomes quite sharp in the afternoon throughout the evening.
I called the fertility clinic (they are in another country, I can't visit them) and they told me to rest. I booked an appointment with a gynecologist on 12th July. In the meantime, has anyone experienced this? Is is possible that the ovaries start swelling again after going down/healing and that started leaking fluid again (hence why my body is swollen)? What should I do about it, does anyone have any tips in terms of food etc? I went to the gym when my period ended (last week) for two sessions (weight, but not very heavy), tat might have contributed to the situation?
I dread going back to the same situation... Thank you so much!
30F, 21 eggs retrieved and 14 mature frozen. This seems lower than usual maturity % here. I am disappointed as I did not think I would have to go through this process again for another cycle.
I had a baseline scan in March 3 months after coming off the pill and my AFC was 8. My AMH was .93 ng/ml (USA). Now I’ve had another one (baseline) with a different clinic 3 months later and my baseline AFC is 16. I’m waiting for a new AMH level.
Has anyone had this happen? I know it’s probably unusual to have two baseline scans to compare.
My first scan was cycle day 7 and the last one was cycle day 14.
Was about to do embryo freezing to preserve fertility at 34!
Hello..I am 39 and will be 40 in October. I am considering egg freezing but havent been eating healthy or taking care of my nutrition. I Have the option of doing it with my next cycle or wait 2 to 3 months to start the process. Not sure what to do :/
Hi guys,
Just had my ER this morning. Was given lorazopam to calm down, and Fentanyl for conscious sedation.
Let me tell you, I felt everything.
My right side is always a little more painful than the left. Even during intravaginal ultrasound.
But the procedure was not nice. When he pocked my right side and retrieved the eggs the pain was 10/10. 🥺
They gave me some more medication through the IV, I don’t know if this had made any difference.
Dr had to stop a little earlier as he didn’t want me to go through this main anymore. Had 38 follicles but only 17 eggs could be retrieved. The doctors stopped due to my pain.
I have suspected mild Endo and diagnosed PCOS so I don’t know if it played any part in this.
Did you experience something like this ?
Grateful for this community!
I froze my eggs twice at age 34 and have 26 eggs. Right before my second freezing I met my partner and we’re planning to marry. I’m now 36 and we are talking about starting to try for kids when I’m 37.5 or 38 (I just started a new job, he’s in a career transition, hoping to get married first, etc).
However I’m wondering if we should be freezing embryos now just in case. My new role comes with some fertility benefits so very luckily it wouldn’t be paying 100% of pocket.
I am realllyyyyy not excited at the prospect of doing it again but also am trying to think longterm. (And it seems like unfreezing my eggs, fertilizing, and refreezing would be less effective than doing another retrieval)
That being said if I could only have 1 child biologically and instead fostered or adopted I think I would be ok. But also I don’t have any kids nos so what if I feel completely different when the time actually comes?
Or is there testing we should do now to help us answer these questions?
Would really appreciate any thoughts.
Hi there,
I got off birth control for 3 months and then retested (initial fertility testing).
I tested this time on Day 4 of my cycle (follicular cycle). I am 33 years old.
This time I have 19 follicles (11 on the left, 8 on the right).
(When I tested first time I only had 15 (10 on left, 5 on right).
Now as of June 29th, 2026:
LH: 7.52 mIU/mL
FSH: 6.52 mIU/mL
Estradiol: 110 pg/mL
AMH: 0.543 ng/mL
Back when I first tested in March on day 3, I had:
LH: 11.14
FSH: 12.42
Estradiol: 47
AMH: 0.530 ng/mL
I also didn’t know and still don’t know if it was already there when I took the first initial testing, but the lady on the phone the other day told me that on the ultrasound,
I have a cyst and I also have a fibroid.
Could the cyst and fibroid impact the AMH? Because of the cyst &/or fibroid, I was told this could be causing the estradiol to go up higher this time.
So, 19 AFC, but AMH is still low at 0.543 ng/mL. I am disappointed the AMH didn’t change much, but I am happy the AFC is a good number and that some of the other tests came back better this time.
If I just want to try to conceive naturally, would this mean it would be difficult?
Anyone else have a good amount of follicles but quite low AMH? Did you have success retrieving eggs?
If you have any thoughts, feel free to share. Thank you so much.
I am on the fence about freezing my eggs, but idk if maybe I really need to just try to go for it
I (38, well 38 and 7 months to be technical) am single, not dating anyone, and still want a husband and kids. When I was 35, my AMH was 4.38. I got my levels checked a few weeks ago, and it dropped down to 2.45. I have an intro call with a fertility clinic for egg freezing in a few weeks.
I'm doing this alone and my insurance doesn't cover the retrieval at all, and already the cost of everything for 1 retrieval was terrifying, I was hoping I had a high enough AMH amount where I could definitely get enough eggs for 2 possible pregnancies. The doctor said they might be able to get 20 eggs in 1 retrieval, but 2 retrievals would be the better option.
I also asked him if he would be concerned if I got pregnant naturally at 40, he said that for 1 baby that's fine, but if I want 2 that won't be doable because getting pregnant naturally at 42 would be really hard with poor egg quality. And if my AMH levels dropped that much in 3 years, who knows what they'll be at 40.
Thinking through it, that would mean I could try to conceive naturally at 40, and if that doesn't work I'll have the frozen eggs. But again, I'm single, and I want a husband. I don't want to use donor sperm.
You might be thinking, why haven't you tried to find anyone? 32 & 33 was COVID shit, 34 & 35 tried but didn't have any luck. At 36 I moved to a new city, and unfortunately had to deal with some personal losses the past few years. Now at 38, I'm finally in a good spot....but haven't met anyone yet.
But I have the intro call with the fertility clinic, and I don't know what to except. I'm so scared of the cost, and I'll be out of town in late July and late August.
I wish I did this at 36 or 37...
Hi! I completed my egg retrieval last Monday (6/22) on cycle day 9 because I was a high responder. I ended up with 24 mature eggs. Plus, I also replaced my IUD while under.
I’m still pretty bloated more than a week later though. When does the bloating go away fully? I just want to feel back to normally.
I also haven’t gotten my period yet. I previously got periods on this type of IUD so not sure what’s up. I did the lupron trigger shot.
Hoping this group can help with any words of advice!!
Hi, myself (29f) and partner (29m) know that we want kids at some point. We just brought our first property and it’s a huge renovation meaning we can’t have kids anytime soon. I am keen to freeze some of my eggs while I’m younger in the hope they will be healthier (unsure if this is a thing). But I wonder if it would be best to freeze my eggs or go for full embryos with my partner and freeze them?
I am in the UK but thinking of doing this in Spain or somewhere in Europe. I’m very much so at the beginning of understanding our options and would love any recommendations of clinics, what to expect, any prep to do and anything to look out for (scams etc).
FYI my partner also has low testosterone which he is currently injecting with alongside HCG. Will this impact?
Any advice is so welcome.
TIA
I've been lurking on this subreddit since my last relationship ended; the breakup prompted me to get my lab work done. It wasn't bad, but wasn't great, and my dr suggested I'm a good candidate for egg freezing.
I am 33 and have an autoimmune condition that can, unfortunately, impact fertility. These tests were done on day 4 of my cycle:
LH = 11.3
FSH = 9.8
AMH = 1.43
Everything else was in normal range (e.g., progesteron, estradiol, prolactin, testosterone [though my dr did say this was a little bit on the low end]).
The concern seems to be the high-ish FSH combined with the low-ish AMH for my age. Suggests my fertility is declining just a bit faster than my age cohort. It seems like I'm still in a range of maybe responding well to ovarian stimulation.
My next steps are to do the AFC ultrasound to see where things are at. I also have an appointment with a Reproductive Endocrinologist, given the autoimmune issues.
I've had a lot of other life upheavals recently. Could some of these results be due to stress? Should I get them redone, or do they tend to be consistent?
Overall, I am making moves to ensure I have the financial means to do egg freezing - up to two rounds if I need to.
FWIW, I considered being an egg donor when I was in my early 20s. Didn't follow through, but did do all of these tests then and am curious if I can find those medical records to see what those numbers were when I was 24/25. But I wish I'd just frozen my eggs then. Wasn't even on my radar at all.
Any encouragement as I start this journey would be really appreciated. Thank you all for sharing your stories -- it's been helpful to read along and see that people are finding their way.
I have done 3 egg retrievals:
Age 37:
21 retrieved, only 9 mature.
10 days with 300 Gonal F. Triggered day 11 with ovitrelle and gonapeptyl.
Size of follicles 2 days before trigger: L= 21, 18, 17, 17, 17, 16, 15 (rest under 11)
R=18, 15, 15, 14, 13, 13 (rest under 12)
Age 38
21 retrieved, 19 mature.
11 days with menopure. Triggered day 12 with ovitrelle and gonapeptyl.
Size of follicles 2 days before trigger: L= 17,17,16,15,14,13 (rest under 10)
R= 18,18,17,16,16,15,14,14,14,14,13,13 (rest under 11)
Age 40
17 retrieved (although 22 ish follicles as the previous cycles), only 9 mature.
Same protocol as 2 round.
follicle size 2 days before trigger: L: 17, 16, 15, 15,15,14,14,14,14,14,14,13,13,12
R: 17, 16,16 15,14,14,13,13,12,12
So, both the first and last round only gave 9 mature eggs. I do not have any symptoms of PCOS. But, my doctor suspects, since so many eggs for my age, and less mature..under 50 %.
The second round gave 19 mature, from also eggs size 14 (most likely 15-16, at trigger). But not the first and last.
Has anyone had luck with getting euploids from cycles with less mature eggs?
or is that a sign of bad quality?
Thank you :)
Hi all
I just had my second egg retrieval yesterday.
The doctor retrieved 17 and froze 16. I’m 33 years old. Last year I froze 13 eggs (retrieved 19) at 32. I did lost 20kg in the last year so not sure if that helped improve my egg maturity rates.
I am getting married this October and we are going to start trying next October so when I’m 34.
My plan is to have 3 kids. The doctor said I have a good AFC and AMH (18 - based in Aus).
If it’s likely I have baby number 1 and 2 naturally at 35/37. Is 29 enough for baby number 3 in case we struggle?
Would you recommend a third or fourth round?
I’m very keen on having a minimum of 3 kids.