Where to freeze your eggs in Charlotte – and why one woman is documenting her experience on social media

She’s the Charlotte-based yogi, travel enthusiast and wellness retreat organizer behind Traveling Gypsy, which has racked up an impressive 21,000+ followers.

At 31, she’s decided to freeze her eggs and, in an attempt to help start a conversation about the option, document her experience on social media.

She credits the decision to her lifestyle. After being single for an extended amount of time and spending that time traveling for work and play, she jokes that at this rate, having a baby probably won’t happen until she’s 45.

But she’s certain that at some point, she’d like to start a family, and after some deliberation and seeing her friend’s experience with the process, has decided to freeze her eggs.

“I know I’m getting older, and I know that at 35 and above, you increase your chance for autism and possible birth defects,” she explained. “But I figured if I freeze my 31 year old eggs now, it’ll be good, it won’t matter what happens in the future.”

The knowledge that freezing her eggs will allow her to have a family on her terms gives her a sense of reassurance, peace and power.

When it comes to choosing to document and share her experience with her followers, it was a no-brainer.

“I just don’t think that this process is something that’s talked about a whole lot and it’s not something that’s a very long process,” she said. “It’s exciting, because what if it encourages someone else that maybe has thought about it and also maybe feels nervous and then – to be able to help someone else along the way is exciting.”

She’ll create a series of videos that will cover everything from the initial doctor appointment where she’ll learn to mix the medicines and inject herself to the extraction of the eggs, which will likely be followed a live question-and-answer segment. Once she’s done, the videos will live on the Carolinas Fertility Institute’s website.

“I’ll basically be teaching people through the process that, ‘This is what I’m doing, and it’s not that scary, I’m excited – and this is a thing you can do, too.'”

And plenty of millennial women are, to the point that Scientific American has deemed the process “mainstream,” with the process has become hugely popular as more and more women decide to delay beginning a family.

There are a handful of places in Charlotte that provide the service – here’s the breakdown:

Advanced Reproductive Concepts

$5,000. This does not include drugs, anesthesia or storage.

Carolinas Fertility Institute

$6,200 for the process and anesthesia, plus $2,000 to $5,000 for medication. This does not include storage.

CMC Women’s Institute

A spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on pricing or breakdown.

Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte (REACH)

$9,100 for a consultation, ultrasound, blood work, monitoring, retrieval and freezing. This does not include anesthesia, medicine or storage. Embryo freezing is also available.

Have you frozen or thought about freezing your eggs? Let’s talk for an upcoming story: [email protected].