What's the Best Age to Freeze Your Eggs?
Jun 04, 2025
More and more people are turning to egg freezing as a way to preserve their fertility for later in life. It makes sense: You may want to have a child but aren’t ready now, don’t know if you want to be a parent, prefer to find the right partner, or want to prepare financially first. Whatever the case, this procedure has helped many people plan for the future.
Gen 5 Fertility Center offers egg freezing, consultations about the procedure, and anything else you might need to feel ready and informed about. Our providers — Dr. Samuel Wood, Dr. Benito Villanueva, and Dr. Martin Bastuba — understand that knowledge is power and want all of our patients to feel as empowered as possible on their fertility journeys.
But one more thing: Some people avoid the option because they think it’s too late or too early to freeze their eggs. So, here’s the skinny on the best age to complete this procedure.
Unfortunately, there’s no one age doctors can point to for every individual and say, “This is the optimal age for egg freezing.” This is because your body is different from the person’s next to you and because fertility treatments aren’t a one-size-fits-all. Still, there are a few rules of thumb to follow when you’re trying to determine the best age to freeze your eggs.
Some providers will tell you that the earlier you freeze your eggs, the better. We understand this mindset. The female body experiences diminished fertility with age, as the eggs released each month become less fertile and fewer over time. A woman in her 20s usually has a better chance of conception than a woman in her 40s.
For this reason, some purport the ideal age for freezing your eggs to be around 20 years old. This is about the earliest that most providers will consider going through with the procedure, as it can be a difficult process on your body as well as your hormonal and mental health.
However, this isn’t true of every patient, and it’s important to consider other factors.
On the flip side, patients who choose to freeze their eggs at the age of 37 tend to see the best results in terms of cost-effectiveness because fertility starts to decline in one’s 30s, but accelerates after 37. This is usually a good time to consider whether the procedure could benefit you.
The likelihood that the eggs you freeze at this time will still be viable and result in a live birth is high. If you freeze your eggs after 40, it can be harder to achieve these same results (though not impossible). For those who haven’t thought about freezing their eggs at a younger age, this is an ideal age to make the choice and get the best results rather than doing nothing.
A caveat here is that patients who choose this procedure between 30 and 35 often get the best of both worlds. As such, they get the benefit of healthy fertility in their early 30s while not having to go through a complex medical procedure at a younger age, where the process might be less tolerable.
Those who may not have thought about having children in their 20s may have a strong desire to do so in their 30s, making the procedure much more beneficial. In addition, freezing your eggs can be costly, and those in their 30s are usually in a better position to afford the procedure.
The important thing to remember is that every patient is different. Some make the choice at 22 while others do so at 42, and some never do. Whatever the case, the most important thing you can do is discuss the option with your provider and determine the best course of action.
If you’d like to learn more about egg freezing, visit us online or call us on the phone to make an appointment at our San Diego, California, office. We can’t wait to meet you!