Preserving your fertility involves freezing your eggs, sperm, embryos or reproductive tissue so that you can hopefully have a biological family in the future. This page will explain why you might want to preserve your fertility and what the process involves.
If you're having certain types of cancer treatment, including chemotherapy or radiotherapy, you might want to consider freezing your eggs, sperm or embryos. This is because some of the drugs used in cancer treatment can cause infertility, especially in high doses.
If you're in the British Armed Forces you might choose to freeze your sperm, eggs or embryos before deployment to preserve your fertility in case of injury. This option can give you peace of mind that whatever happens you may be able to have a family in the future. Some clinics offer discounted treatment for members of the Armed Forces.
Not everyone feels ready for motherhood at the same time. You might want to preserve your fertility because you haven't met the right partner, you don't feel financially or emotionally ready, or you have other life plans you want to pursue.
If you're a male transitioning to a female or a female transitioning to a male, you may want to preserve your fertility before you start hormone therapy or have reconstructive surgery. Both treatments can lead to the partial or total loss of your fertility.
Information for trans and non-binary people seeking fertility treatment
Egg freezing is a method of preserving a woman’s fertility so she can try and have children at a later date. It's a relatively new treatment and success rates are low compared to IVF with fresh eggs.
Find out more about Egg freezing
Ovarian tissue freezing is a fertility preservation option for women who are unable to freeze their eggs and for younger girls who haven't started ovulating.
Sperm freezing is the most effective method of preserving a man's fertility and can be stored from patients as young as 13 if needed.
Find out more about Sperm freezingTesticular tissue freezing is a specialist technique to preserve the fertility of men who do not produce viable sperm in their ejaculate (azoospermia) as well as boys who are unable to produce an ejaculate.
Couples with good quality embryos they're not ready to use have the option of freezing them to use in the future or to donate.
Find out more about Embryo freezing
Preserving your fertility is a serious and complicated issue. It's for this reason that clinics must give you an opportunity to receive counselling before you have treatment.
Find out more about Looking after yourself
It's extremely important that you understand how to legally give your consent to treatment so your reproductive material is used in a way that you're happy with.
Find out more about Giving consent
Ready to choose a fertility clinic? Get all the information you need to choose the best clinic for you, prepare for your appointment and deal with any problems.
Find out more about Choosing a clinic
You can choose whether you want your eggs, sperm, embryos or reproductive tissue to be used after your death or whether you want them to be destroyed. In these cases you would need to specify who would be able to use them.
Consent to treatmentWhether a treatment is available on the NHS depends on where you live. Generally people who need treatment for medical reasons (such as cancer or early menopause) can have this on the NHS whereas those who are having it as a lifestyle choice can't. Speak to your GP about what is available .
Costs and fundingCancer and fertility (NHS Choices)
Fertility and breast cancer treatment (Breast Cancer Care)
Fertility and chemotherapy (Cancer Research UK)
A patient decision aid to help women with cancer make fertility preservation decisions (Cancer, Fertility and Me)
Publication date: 5 October 2020
Review date: 5 October 2022
