Fertility preservation

What it covers

The UK fertility regulator, the HFEA, says “Preserving your fertility involves freezing your eggs, sperm, embryos or reproductive tissue so that you can hopefully have a biological family in the future.”

India's ART Act uses a matching definition. It says “"cryo-preserve" means the freezing and storing of gametes, zygotes, embryos, ovarian and testicular tissues”

The three common routes each have a page: egg freezing (clinics naming it: 138), embryo freezing (128), and sperm freezing, for which the HFEA says “Men are able to freeze their sperm for use in their own future treatment or to donate to someone else's treatment.”

When it is used

The HFEA's first example is cancer treatment: “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.”

On eggs specifically, it says freezing may be considered if “You're worried about your fertility declining but you're not ready to have a child or you haven't found the right partner – this is often called 'elective egg freezing'.” Whether it is appropriate in a particular case is a clinical decision for the treating doctor. This directory does not make that judgement.

What the regulator says about risks

The risks depend on the route. For eggs, the HFEA says “The major risk is that it won't work”; for embryos, “Although most embryos do survive the freeze thaw process, some may not survive.” Collecting eggs involves the drugs of an IVF cycle; the egg freezing page quotes the HFEA on their risks in full.

What India's ART Act says

Section 22(2): “The clinics and banks shall not cryo-preserve any human embryos or gamete, without specific instructions and consent in writing from all the parties seeking assisted reproductive technology, in case of death or incapacity of any of the parties.” Section 28(2) limits storage of “The gamete of a donor or embryo” to “not more than ten years”. Ask a clinic how these apply to what you want to store.

Questions

What can be frozen?

The HFEA says “your eggs, sperm, embryos or reproductive tissue”.

Why would someone preserve fertility before cancer treatment?

The HFEA says “some of the drugs used in cancer treatment can cause infertility, especially in high doses.”

Does a clinic need written consent?

Yes. Section 22(2) of the ART Act requires “specific instructions and consent in writing from all the parties seeking assisted reproductive technology”.

Sources

• HFEA, Fertility preservation, read 25 September 2026.
• The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 (No. 42 of 2021), read 25 September 2026.
• HFEA, Sperm freezing, read 25 September 2026.
• HFEA, Egg freezing, read 25 September 2026.
• HFEA, Embryo freezing, read 25 September 2026.
• The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Rules, 2022, G.S.R. 419(E), 7 June 2022, para 10.1 (not changed by the Amendment Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 491(E)), read 25 September 2026.
• Clinic data: each clinic's own website, as read by this directory; registry level from the National ART & Surrogacy Registry extract.