Fertility is something that's important to many people, but we all know that there's a finite amount of time in which a woman can conceive a child. By the age of 37, it's believed that around 90% of a woman's eggs are gone, naturally reducing the chance of getting pregnant. For that reason, the idea of freezing your eggs has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it opens up the possibility of conceiving a little later on, or preserving your younger, healthier eggs for use in slightly later years.
You might have considered getting your eggs frozen yourself, if you're perhaps not in the right kind of relationship for starting a family, or if you're choosing to put a pause on the baby making for other reasons, like progressing your career. The chances are, however, you probably don't know all that many people who have actually done it. But considering it's the kind of topic that's useful to hear personal perspective on, we thought we'd round up all the celebrities who have opened up about their own choice to freeze their eggs.
So here are some celebrities you probably didn't even know had gone through the egg freezing process, or plan to in the near future:
1. Emma Roberts
Speaking candidly in her Cosmopolitan cover interview, the Scream Queens star revealed the impact an endometriosis diagnosis had on her life. "A few years ago, I learned that I’ve had undiagnosed endometriosis since I was a teenager. I always had debilitating cramps and periods... I mentioned this to my doctor, who didn’t look into it and sent me on my way. In my late 20s, I switched to a female doctor. She ran tests, sent me to a specialist. Finally, there was validation... but by then, it had affected my fertility. I was told, 'You should probably freeze your eggs or look into other options'."
Currently pregnant with her first child, Emma said she was initially in shock at the thought of freezing her eggs. "I said, 'I’m working right now. I don’t have time to freeze my eggs.' To be honest, I was also terrified. Just the thought of going through that and finding out, perhaps, that I wouldn’t be able to have kids. I did freeze my eggs eventually, which was a difficult process."
She added that speaking to other women helped her massively. "I felt like I'd done something wrong [until] I started opening up to other women, and all of a sudden, there was a new world of conversation about endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages, fear of having kids. I was so grateful to find out I was not alone in this."
2. Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen has always been open about her struggles with fertility, having conceived her first two children, Luna and Miles, via IVF. She's in the middle of her third pregnancy currently, which happened naturally much to her surprise, but the Cravings cookbook author used frozen eggs in her first two conceptions.
Those eggs have been made into embryos (after being mixed with husband John Legend's sperm), but a few years back, Chrissy revealed she wished she had taken steps to egg-freeze even earlier. "I wish I had frozen my eggs earlier," she told People in 2016. "The number of embryos we have left is not matching the number of people I want at my dinner table, so I'll have to do it again." Luckily, the couple didn't need any assistance for pregnancy number three, so maybe Chrissy and John will end up with the number of children they'd like after all.
2. Michaela Coel
I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel recently shared in an interview with GQ that she is in the process of freezing her eggs, "just in case." Opening up to actor Donald Glover, who conducted the interview, she said, "I've never been too thinky about bearing my own children through my vagina," but is doing egg freezing "in case I changed my mind."
Michaela acknowledged that there could be a point in time "where suddenly you really want babies and all you can think about is you want a baby and the clock’s ticking." While she admits she's not had that feeling so far ("I’ve never even said, 'I want to have a baby' ever in my life," she told Glover) she is taking the measures just as a precaution. "I’m freezing them in case that hits me later."
3. Rebel Wilson
40-year-old Rebel Wilson is enjoying the heights of her career right now, but that doesn't mean she's not thinking about the possibility of having a family in future. The Pitch Perfect actress revealed she was having her eggs frozen on Australian radio last year, telling show hosts Kyle and Jackie O that she had been at a fertility clinic just ahead of the interview.
"It’s a back-up plan," Rebel explained. "Career women now have options. I think a lot women who are in their 30s and if they can do it, in their 40s should think about doing it now. A lot of my friends in Hollywood are doing it."
4. Kourtney Kardashian
She may already have three children (Mason, 10, Penelope, 8, and Reign, 5) with ex-partner Scott Disick, but back in 2018 the reality star was filmed on Keeping Up With the Kardashians going through the process of freezing her eggs.
Sharing the details with her friends, Kourtney admitted she had been feeling "so up and down" after taking hormonal injections. Showing off the bruising on her stomach that had been left as a result, she continued: "It’s like crazy. I feel like I want to jump out of my skin. I’m so crazy, I can’t take it."
Now 41, Kourtney said at the time that she wasn't certain she wanted another child, but was choosing to freeze her eggs on the off-chance she might. "I just feel like this is for safety," she explained, adding: "I hope that going through all of this is worth it. I don’t want to put my body through something like this again. The emotions of it all are just a lot."
5. Amy Schumer
38-year-old Amy Schumer got married to husband Chris Fischer in February 2018, and the couple welcomed their first child, Gene, in May the following year. But since then, they've been trying for a second baby and have come up against some difficulties. In a candid Instagram post, comedian and actress Amy shared an intimate photograph of her swollen, bruised stomach thanks to fertility treatment, and explained that she is freezing her eggs in a bid to have another child.
"I’m a week into IVF and feeling really run down and emotional," Amy posted. "If anyone went through it and if you have any advice or wouldn’t mind sharing your experience with me please do. My number is in my bio. We are freezing my eggs and figuring out what to do to give Gene a sibling." So far, there's been no pregnancy announcement for Amy and Chris, but hopefully they'll find a way to conceive a second time.
6. Halsey
Singer Halsey has been open about her health struggles with endometriosis, and the condition means she has also made the decision to be "aggressive" about preserving her fertility. Speaking to TV show The Doctors back in 2018, the then-23-year-old explained the criticism she had come up against for planning to freeze her eggs at such a young age.
"I’m 23 years old, and I'm going to freeze my eggs. And when I tell people that, they're like, 'You're 23, why do you need to do that? Why do you need to freeze your eggs?'" she shared. Not that she should have to explain herself, but Halsey continued, saying: "Doing an ovarian reserve is important to me because I’m fortunate enough to have that as an option. However, I need to be aggressive about protecting my fertility, and about protecting myself."
7. Amy Hart
Love Island's Amy Hart revealed earlier this year that she was going through the process of egg freezing after a fertility MOT showed she was liable to go through early menopause. The former air hostess also pointed to her lack of relationship success as another reason she wants to give herself the chance to have children some day if she never finds the right partner, calling it her "back up plan."
"When I was unlucky in dating. My whole thing was 'what if I never have children?'," Amy said on Loose Women. The reality TV star's plan was to undergo the procedure in March, but it seems that was disrupted after the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and fertility treatment was largely put on hold.
8. Kim Kardashian West
Kim K knew early on that she would struggle with fertility. "A few years ago I was told I could never get pregnant," Kardashian once told ELLE UK. "Three different doctors told me the same thing, which is why I wanted to have my eggs frozen."
But when she went ahead with the process back in 2013, she discovered she was actually pregnant with her first child, North. Since then, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have gone on to have three more children - Saint, Chicago and Psalm - with the youngest two being carried by a surrogate, due to it being too risky for Kim to get pregnant again.
9. Rita Ora
You might imagine that egg freezing is something women start to consider as they edge towards the end of their fertile years, but that wasn't the case for Rita Ora. Now 29, the singer revealed on Australian breakfast TV show Sunrise that she had undergone the procedure in her early 20s, following a recommendation from her family doctor. He told her: "You’re healthiest now and I think it would be great, why don’t you put them away now and you’ll never have to worry about it again?"
And Ora's doctor's suggestion seems to be in keeping with what research has found; that the earlier you freeze your eggs, the higher the chance of conceiving with them later down the line. Scientists from Newcastle Fertility Centre presented research back in January of this year that suggested the average live birth rate using a patient's own frozen eggs (and considering most people don't freeze them until a little later on) is just 18% - so, a less than one-in-five chance. But Dr Mariano Mascarenhas, who was involved in the research, noted that people may see an improved chance of success if they have their eggs frozen younger. "The chances of having a baby can improve if eggs are stored early in life," he said.
10. Olivia Munn
All too aware of the 'ticking clock of her fertility' (as society likes to remind us!) Olivia Munn took action in her mid-thirties, and had some eggs frozen. Speaking to Anna Faris on her podcast back in 2016, the actress shared that she "froze a bunch of eggs" when she turned 35, because "you're high risk [for difficulty conceiving]" from then on.
"I think that every girl should do it. For one, you don't have to race the clock any more. You don't have to worry about it, worry about your job or anything. It's there," Olivia continued. Now 40, Olivia hasn't had any children as of yet, but she still has the possibility of it happening with her frozen eggs in future.
11. Paris Hilton
We take inspiration from our friends on a multitude of things, but for Paris Hilton, she sought family planning inspiration from her pal Kim Kardashian-West. In conversation with The Sunday Times recently, 39-year-old Paris explained what had happened.
"I had a really amazing conversation with Kim [Kardashian] about [egg freezing]," she said. "She introduced me to her doctor, and I was so inspired by her to actually do it." For Paris, who doesn't have any children currently (but does have five dogs, Harajuku, Diamond Baby, Princess Paris Jr, Prince Hilton and Prince Baby Bear) she felt it was a move to reclaim focus on future relationships. "I think every woman should do it because you can really control it and not have that ‘Oh my God, I need to get married,’" said Paris.
12. Khloe Kardashian
In a series 18 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, enthusiastic grandma Kris Jenner can be seen badgering middle daughter Khloe to freeze her eggs, just in case she wants any more children after True. When Khloe announces she's "not even thinking about" dating anyone after breaking up with Tristan Thompson, Kris probes: "Do you want another baby? Are your eggs frozen?"
"No, if I want to I will one day. I'm not worried about it," replies a cool-headed Khloe, rejecting her mum's suggestion at first. But in later scenes, it seems the idea of freezing her eggs had gradually become more appealing to the mum-of-one. She was later filmed going through the procedure, and didn't seem to find it too troubling. "I’ve been doing hormone injections for about five days, and the injection process has been fine," she said on her reality show.
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