"The hormones really do suck." 5 things I wish I knew before freezing my eggs.

If you’d asked me a few months ago what I thought the egg freezing process would involve, I would’ve said, “You have to inject yourself with hormones and then a doctor removes enough eggs to make a baby in a few years.”

How many eggs? No clue. How did they remove the eggs? No idea. How was I going to inject myself every day with a steady hand? Um… No way! 

I learned so much about fertility and egg freezing through this experience, and I really wanted to share it with anyone considering freezing their eggs.

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1. I wasn’t too young to freeze my eggs.

I started thinking about getting my eggs frozen at around 30. I felt very single. What does feeling “very single” mean? Well, I just felt I had more work to do on myself before I was ready to settle down.

I had a track record of dating a certain kind of man (hint: not looking for a relationship), but all I truly wanted was a real connection with someone that wanted the same. But I couldn’t admit it back then. 

I just felt “very single”, unable to let go of my past dating behaviours, but also unable to articulate the traits of the kind of person I wanted to build a family with. 

I genuinely thought I was too young to freeze my eggs at 30. So I put it off for a year. Then another year. Then I found myself at 32-and-a-half in the middle of one of the longest lockdowns in the world. 

I’d done the work on myself but… level four lockdowns aren’t ideal for forming a real connection! 

So I started looking into egg freezing.

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I had no idea that the ideal age to freeze your eggs is actually late-20s to early-30s. I was the perfect age! 

One of the issues with fertility as we get older isn’t just the number of eggs, but the quality of our eggs. When I froze my eggs at 32, I was actually preserving the quality of my 32-year-old eggs. 

2. The injections really aren’t that bad.

I really wish I hadn’t stressed so much over the injections.

It’s not like you’re sent home with injections and told, “Good luck!” A nurse takes you through a practice run (not on yourself).

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Then, when you get home, you ice the area for a few minutes, pinch the skin, and inject. The ice fully numbs your stomach, so you literally don’t feel the needle go in. The first injection, yes, it’s weird and a little frightening. But once you’ve done a couple of injections, you just get used to it.

3. The hormones really do suck.

It’s the hormones inside the injections that you have to be afraid of. Everyone will react to hormones differently, but boy, did I feel them.

I’ve spoken to women who haven’t had the same experience as me, so the symptoms will vary from person to person. 

I had over 40 follicles (a follicle is a small sac of fluid that contains a developing egg), which is a lot, so my doctor said that I may experience more side effects.

I felt like trash. There’s no other word to describe it. 

Sore boobs; a big belly; a bottomless hunger for carbs and chocolate; bone-tired. 

I’m the kind of person that gets annoyingly perky in the afternoon, but I was taking five-hour naps every day at 4pm. I was also eating an entire loaf of bread right before my daily siesta. 

But it was my mood that really hit me. I was so low. 

I had a lot of negative self-talk during those two weeks; thoughts I don’t usually have. Things like, “This is why you’re single.” And, “You’ll never meet someone.” It was like my self-esteem completely plummeted overnight. 

I thought it might be the lockdown. I actually sent this text to my mum: “I’m worried this is me now.” But my doctor assured me that any symptoms associated with the hormones would pass once I got my period. And wow, the DAY of my period, I just went back to myself. It was like magic! 

My verdict? Yes, it was two weeks of pain, but I wouldn’t take it back. It was totally worth it.

4. There’s no guarantee on how many eggs you’ll get.

I just assumed I would get the “right” number of eggs in one cycle to ensure I could have a baby in the future if I wanted one. But that’s not the case for some women.

I had a lot of follicles and was lucky enough to get 28 eggs frozen. 

I’ve been chatting to a lot of women in my DMs on Instagram and their experiences are different. Some have gotten more than me, but some have only gotten a few eggs from an egg freezing cycle and they’ve gone on to do another cycle. 

I had absolutely no idea what my fertility was like prior to this process, but through blood tests and an ultrasound, I had a much better idea. 

If you want to discuss fertility testing prior to making a decision on egg freezing, speak to your GP or a fertility specialist. 

5. I really did feel relieved afterward.

I don’t know whether it’s because I’ve changed (thanks, therapy!) or because the pressure has been taken off, but I feel like my attitude towards dating has completely shifted. 

I’m excited about the journey, as opposed to feeling like I’m rushing towards the destination. I feel okay just having fun with a guy; I don’t feel the pressure to make it something it’s not. 

I feel excited to travel the world when borders open. SO EXCITED! And it’s partly because I don’t have that voice inside my head saying, “You can’t travel! You need to start thinking about settling down and having babies.” 

I actually can’t contain my excitement about life after the pandemic. 

I want my freedom back. I want the lost time back. And I feel like the decision to freeze my eggs has given me some more time to continue to work on myself until I’m ready for the next chapter. 

For more from Hannah Furst, you can find her on Instagram.

Feature Image: Supplied.

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