The Egg Freezing Consent Form Question No One Talks About: Deciding the Fate of Your Frozen Eggs

If you’re planning to freeze your eggs, you’ve probably already educated yourself about the medical process, and considered how you might use your eggs in the future if you need them. But, while the medical process of egg freezing is straightforward, decisions regarding the fate of unused eggs entail complex ethical and legal considerations. 

This article explores these complexities, offering insights into how you can approach these decisions more empowered and informed. The clearer you are heading into your egg freezing journey, the better!

Understanding egg freezing consent forms

Once you’ve selected a clinic, chatted with a reproductive endocrinologist, and agreed to kick off the egg freezing process, the next step is to review and sign your clinic’s consent forms. 

For the most part, these documents ensure that you provide informed consent for your egg freezing cycle and acknowledge that you understand everything involved (ranging from billing to medications to post-procedural expectations). However, these documents also require you to make a decision ahead of time about what should happen to your eggs under various scenarios, such as death, incapacitation, or a change in circumstances. 

Despite egg freezing being an incredible choice, it’s important to really think through these scenarios even if they feel a bit morbid. This form not only ensures that all potential outcomes have been considered, but also provides a legal framework that supports your wishes should something happen to you after you’ve frozen your eggs. 

Exploring your options

When considering what to do with unused frozen eggs, you’ll be presented with several options to choose ahead of time: 

• Donation to another family: This allows others to benefit from your unused eggs by fertilizing them into embryos to grow their family. Recipients might be gay dads, those with infertility (with diminished ovarian reserve or egg quality issues), or cancer survivors. Note: this will only be an option if you qualify at the time of egg freezing, and additional screening may be involved.
• Donation to science: By donating your unused eggs to science, doctors or scientists may use them for research, contributing to advancements that might help others achieve their dreams of parenthood.
• Destruction: For those who prefer not to leave their genetic material in use after their passing or change of plans, destroying the eggs is a viable option.
• Transfer of ownership: Transferring ownership of the eggs to a partner or another family member can ensure that one's genetic legacy could continue, even if you do not use the eggs yourself.

Common concerns

Making a decision about the fate of your frozen eggs can be tough. It involves careful consideration of your life goals, ethical perspectives, and personal values, all while considering hypothetical future-state scenarios. You don’t have a crystal ball, and it’s unclear how your life’s circumstances might evolve. Ethical considerations are nuanced, but might include:

• If you are comfortable or not with your genetic material being used to help grow another family 
• If you are comfortable or not with your genetic material being researched to further progress in reproductive science 
• If you are okay or not with discarding your genetic material altogether once you have decided you do not need to use them (whether your family-building journey is complete or you have decided for sure that you do not want children)
  

Addressing these ethical considerations requires careful reflection and informed consent. It might also prompt some discussions between you, your family, your doctors, and your significant other if applicable. Thinking through these decisions ahead of time allows proper, clear-headed decision-making.

That being said, your frozen eggs are yours — and you can *always* change your mind later. 

Real-life cases involving frozen eggs and embryos

Your frozen eggs (or embryos, if you eventually fertilized them) are extremely precious. So, it’s not surprising that there are a few high-profile cases where those frozen embryos have become the subjects of legal battles or ethical debates. 

We definitely don’t mean to freak you out, but here are a few examples that demonstrate why these consent documents are important, and why you should really think through the future of your frozen eggs once they get fertilized. Again, when it comes to frozen eggs specifically, you should always have the opportunity to change your mind before moving forward with any decisions to donate or destroy them in the future.

Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb

This high-profile case involved actress Sofia Vergara and her former partner Nick Loeb. After their relationship ended, Loeb sought to use frozen embryos they had created together, despite a signed agreement that required both parties' consent to bring the embryos to term. The legal battle centered around the rights of the embryos and the enforcement of the initial agreement.

Mimi Lee and Stephen Findley

In this case, a couple had created frozen embryos before the wife underwent treatment for cancer, which could render her infertile. After they divorced, the husband wanted the embryos destroyed, while the wife wanted to use them to have children. The court ruled in favor of the husband, citing the couple’s agreement that the embryos could be destroyed in the event of a divorce.

Reber v. Reiss

In this Pennsylvania case, a woman wanted to use frozen embryos to conceive after her divorce, but her ex-husband opposed it. The court decided that preventing the woman from becoming pregnant against her ex-husband's wishes would cause more harm to her, as it would destroy her chance of having biological children.

These cases illustrate the complex ethical, legal, and emotional issues surrounding the use of frozen embryos (not eggs — though frozen eggs were used in the creation of those embryos), especially when relationships change. They underscore the importance of having clear, legally binding agreements regarding the use of stored genetic material before undergoing any fertility treatments.

Summing it up

You’re already doing the right thing just by reading this article. When deciding what to do with the future of your frozen eggs, it’s incredibly important to educate yourself about your options as much as possible. If you feel any sense of ambiguity, continue to ask questions at your fertility clinic or ask them to connect you with a lawyer who specializes in fertility regulation. Clarity is everything, and you’re never asking too many questions. 

Support through Cofertility

When freezing your eggs with Cofertility, you’ll receive tons of guidance every step of the way from our Member Advocates. They’ll ensure that you’re well-informed about the processes and choices throughout your journey, including the complex ethical decisions surrounding the management of frozen eggs, storage, and future scenarios. 

Take our quiz today to see if you qualify for free egg freezing when you donate half of the eggs retrieved to another family who can’t conceive (gay dads, those with infertility, cancer survivors, and more). We’re here to chat with you about any questions, anytime.

Ensuring peace of mind

Egg freezing isn't just about preserving fertility; it's about maintaining future choices and having peace of mind regarding reproductive options. With careful consideration of the ethical, legal, and personal aspects, you can make empowered decisions about your frozen eggs, whatever the future may hold.