Egg freezing, though often expensive and not the most comfortable experience, has become much more common in recent years among women in their 20s and 30s who, for whatever reason, aren’t ready to become mothers yet but want to keep that option open.
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And it’s not just something you see in headlines. It’s happening more and more across the UK, with demand steadily rising over the past decade. According to data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), egg freezing cycles have grown from fewer than 400 in 2011 to more than 6,900 in 2023, now accounting for around 7% of all fertility treatment cycles.
Most of these cycles are elective, meaning they are not driven by a medical condition but by people wanting to preserve their fertility for the future. While some cases are linked to health reasons, around 16% between 2018 and 2022, the majority come down to timing, relationships, or simply not feeling ready yet.
What’s also worth knowing is that many people are freezing their eggs later than you might expect. In 2023, nearly 60% of cycles were in women aged 35 and over, when fertility is already starting to decline. It’s one of the reasons awareness, and timing, come up so often in these conversations.
It’s still an investment, and it’s right to be honest about that. But it’s also not just for celebrities or the elite. More people are starting to see egg freezing as part of planning ahead, not because they’ve made a final decision about having children, but because they haven’t.
At the moment, a single egg freezing cycle is priced at £4,500. Some people choose this as a one-off, especially if their test results suggest a good number of eggs could be collected in one go. Others prefer a bit more flexibility, opting for a multi-cycle package, up to four cycles for £7,995, which can help spread both the process and the chances of collecting more eggs over time.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. That’s why we always start with a fertility assessment, so you’ve got a clear picture before making any decisions. Your tests come first, and then you’ll sit down with a doctor who can walk you through what those results mean for you, including what kind of outcome you might expect from egg freezing.
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Vicky Pattison has been really open about freezing her eggs, and what stands out is that she’s still very much in the middle of working things out.
Now 38, she’s spoken honestly about how age has started to feel more relevant in her decision-making, especially as her husband, Ercan, is 32 and not quite ready for children yet. It’s something she’s addressed head-on, acknowledging that men don’t have the same biological clock, so the pressure can land quite differently depending on where you’re both at.
She first shared her experience in her 2024 documentary Egg Freezing and Me, where she spoke openly about going through treatment and the emotional weight that can come with it. As part of that, she also revealed that she chose to freeze both her eggs and embryos, not just to keep her options open, but to feel reassured about the possibility of having a child with her husband when the time feels right for them both.
More recently, in her 2026 series Maybe Baby, she’s continued that conversation, exploring what having a family might look like for her now and how those decisions can shift over time.
For Vicky, it’s still an ongoing process with unanswered questions, and a decision hasn’t been made as to whether those eggs or even the embryos will be used yet. Whether they choose not to have children, conceive naturally, or come back to what they’ve frozen, it’s about having that reassurance in the background, knowing the option is there if they need it.
Priyanka Chopra has said she froze her eggs in her early thirties, long before she met Nick Jonas.
At the time, she didn’t know what her future would look like in terms of relationships or family. Her career was the focus, and she wasn’t ready to make decisions about children just yet.
Freezing her eggs gave her space. Instead of feeling like she needed to rush into finding the right time or the right person, she could let things happen more naturally.
Rita Ora froze her eggs in her twenties after a conversation with her doctor, and she didn’t just do it once.
She’s shared that she had two rounds, one at 24 and another at 27, after being told it was the best time to preserve the highest quality eggs. Looking back, she’s been clear about how valuable that advice was.
As she put it: “(Back then), a doctor told me it was a really good time to preserve the best-quality (eggs). It was actually the best advice, because now I’m in my mid-30s and I have a lot of friends really trying to figure it out. It will just be more of an expansion when the time comes.”
Emma Roberts found out she hadendometriosis, which can affect fertility, and that changed things quite quickly.
She’s spoken about how she froze her eggs after that diagnosis, knowing things might not be straightforward down the line.
Florence Pugh has shared that she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 27, something that came as a surprise given her family history.
She’s described the women in her family as “baby-making machines”, with her mum having children naturally at 40 and 42. So in her mind, fertility wasn’t something she needed to think about yet. She’s also said she’d wanted children since she was a child herself, which made the news harder to process.
That’s why having a fertility check mattered. It gave her a clearer picture of what was actually going on, rather than relying on assumptions. Instead of waiting and potentially being caught off guard later, she had the chance to understand her options early, and decide what felt right from there.
When you look across all of these stories, they’re not really about fame or lifestyle. They’re about not feeling ready yet, wanting more time, managing a health condition, taking pressure off relationships, or simply not knowing what the next few years will look like.
Egg freezing isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about keeping the door open while you do.
You don’t need to have made any big decisions to start exploring this.
Most people begin with checking their fertility to understand where they are right now. At Care Fertility, that always comes first. Your tests are done before you speak to a doctor, so when you do have that conversation, it’s based on your results, not guesswork. After that, you’ll receive a clear summary of your options and next steps through your companion app, so you can take it from there in your own time.
Learn more about our fertility testing bundle for fertility preservation
If you’d like to talk it through, you can give our team a call on 0800 564 2270 or click here to get in touch. We’ll guide you through the next step, at your pace.