This is a subject that we don’t talk about or talk about too little. However, it concerns millions of women.
In France, all women have the right to have their eggs frozen, without medical reasons and being fully covered by Health Insurance since the bioethics law of 2021. A very good step forward which has a downside: that of having to wait months or even years before being able to carry out the famous puncture. However, there is an age limit for doing so. It’s a race against time for those who take this step. Laeticia is one of them. She tells us.
It all started with a discussion between friends on a café terrace: “My friends were talking about egg freezing and having to go to Spain to do it because in France it was too late for them.” Too late ? “They told me: Laeticia, be careful. In France, it’s a maximum of 37 years to freeze your eggs and there’s at least a year to wait. One year? But I’m already 35.” In Laeticia’s head, thoughts race: “I didn’t think I would have to do this so soon. It was a difficult decision to make.” Her friends insist, she makes an appointment with her gynecologist.
“The delays in getting an appointment are monstrous”
On the big day, apprehension grew. “I was afraid of how the doctor would look at my situation, being still single at 35 and then deciding to freeze my eggs… But it was quite the opposite. I had no judgement. My gynecologist reassured me by telling me that it’s not because I’m single at 35 that I was going to be single for the rest of my life. She told me to see this approach as security.” A caring look from the medical profession which helps the young woman move forward. “It’s not a process that we do for pleasure, it is restrictive, long. Even if I know that it is a chance to be able to do it, especially in France where it is fully covered, the fact that the doctors do not judge helps a lot.” On the other hand, her gynecologist is very clear: “She told me that given my age and the deadlines it was ‘now or never’.” For Laeticia, “women need to know”. “I want to alert them to the fact that you should not wait until age 37 to freeze your eggs even if that is the legal age in France. The journey is long, for me at 35, it’s already almost at the limit.”
The gynecologist gives him the list of hospitals with a fertility preservation center: “It is only from the moment we have an appointment in one of these centers that the protocol is open. I thought I would find an appointment easily but not at all. I contacted them all. The delays are monstrous and, outside your region, the centers will not take you as they are overwhelmed with requests.” According to official figures, waiting times are 10 to 12 months before medical treatment to freeze your eggs and up to 4 years thereafter before the puncture. Laeticia ends up finding a date. “Here again, the doctor I saw was very kind, I didn’t need to justify the reasons for my approach, he didn’t ask me any questions.”
“I won’t have the pressure of having to meet someone now.”
The doctor explains the protocol, the tests to be carried out, the ovarian stimulation phase (in the form of skin pricks for 10 days, Editor’s note) then the puncture. “What scares me the most now is the fertility test. They can tell me that I have the fertility of a 25-year-old woman, which would be very good news, or, on the contrary, of a 45-year-old woman. In this case, the hospital will not take samples from me. That’s why you really have to do it early to put all the chances on your side (women can do it from the age of 29 in France, Editor’s note).” Once the examinations have been validated and the date of the puncture scheduled, you must make yourself available for 15 days. “You don’t have to plan a vacation, organize yourself at work. If the hospital calls to carry out the puncture, you have to go almost immediately.” For Laeticia, freezing should occur before the end of 2025. “I will be very proud of myself for having passed this stage, it will take a lot of pressure off me because I will have the choice and I will no longer have to think about absolutely having to meet someone now.” Several doctors told him that patients had found “the one” shortly after completing their protocol.. “I hope so. And if not, I leave the door open to having a child on my own.”
Women can use their eggs until their 45th birthday. Each year, they have the choice between keeping them, using them for a PMA, giving them to people waiting for a donation or for scientific research, and ending their conservation. For Laeticia, the choice of what comes next is made: “I will donate my eggs to science when I am over the legal age. I will give back what was given to me.”
Interview conducted on October 14, 2025.
