Doing It Alone
Egg freezing alone — 5 things nobody tells you about doing it solo
most egg freezing content is written for couples. or for women with a partner nearby, a friend who's been through it, a support system that already understands.
this one is for the women doing it alone.
i froze my eggs at 35 in spain, without a partner. the clinic was medically excellent. the psychological side was left entirely to me. here are the 5 things i wish someone had told me before i started.
1. the loneliness is the hardest part — and nobody warns you it's coming
every woman i've worked with said she felt alone in the process at some point. you can't always tell your employer. friends with children can't relate. online forums are dominated by IVF discussions — different circumstances, different fears. doing it solo means carrying not just the physical process but the emotional weight of the decision, the injections, the wait, and the aftermath, without anyone next to you who fully understands what's happening.
Build your support system before you start — not during.
2. the decision itself is harder when there's no one to think out loud with
for women with a partner, the decision is shared — someone else is in the room when results come back, someone to talk through the costs with, someone to hold the fear alongside. alone, every decision lands only with you: which clinic, which country, which protocol, how much to spend, whether to do a second round. most egg-freezing content completely ignores the weight of making those calls in isolation.
Find someone who's been through it — peer knowledge changes everything.
3. going abroad alone is more manageable than it sounds — with the right prep
i chose Palma de Mallorca over London. it was €4,000 cheaper, had over 20 years of fertility expertise, and the recovery environment mattered more than i expected. women who freeze abroad alone describe the experience as entirely manageable when they have a clear plan — and overwhelming when they don't. knowing your monitoring schedule in advance, having accommodation sorted near the clinic, and understanding what the 14-day semi-off period looks like for your work and life are what decide whether going solo abroad feels empowering or isolating.
Plan the logistics before you book the flight — not after.
4. your gut instinct about wanting children doesn't need to be resolved first
one of the most common reasons women delay is feeling they should know whether they want children before they freeze their eggs. you don't. exploring egg freezing doesn't mean deciding to become a mother — it means keeping the option open while life unfolds on its own timeline, which is exactly what most solo women are doing. you don't need a partner, a plan, or a decision. you need a blood test and a clear roadmap.
Uncertainty is the reason to act — not the reason to keep waiting.
5. the day after retrieval is where everyone disappears — and that's when you most need support
you go home the same day. the clinic's job is done. and then you're alone with a body that feels unfamiliar, an emotion you can't name, and no one to tell you that what you're feeling is completely normal. abdominal cramping, fatigue, a delayed and heavier first period, and a strange emotional hollowing-out are all documented and real — but almost no clinic prepares solo women for coming home to an empty flat after one of the most significant things they've ever done for their future.
Plan your post-retrieval support before retrieval day — not the morning after.
doing it alone doesn't mean doing it without support. the women i work with who navigate this best aren't the ones with the most information — they're the ones who had someone walking alongside them, from the first question to the frozen eggs, who'd been through it themselves and knew exactly what was coming next.
that's what Sopotion was built to be.