voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. there's a story behind every egg freezing. egg number two. i didn't really think that i would necessarily be going through a fertility journey but, like, here i am at 37 now freezing my eggs. this is for your future babies in there. come on! egg freezing — one of the fastest—growing fertility treatments in the uk. think we should do it?

social media feeds are full of women sharing their stories... it's just like a horrible waiting game of, like, has it worked, has it not? like, how many eggs do you get? ..including celebrities. i thought what i was doing, right, was showing young lasses that there's, like, alternatives. that we don't just have to rush into things with potentially the wrong bloke. it's increasingly becoming a choice to try and have a baby later in life. i can't afford it, but i see it as an investment in my future. you can keep making money but you can't keep making eggs. but there are worries patients are spending thousands on something they may never need, or that might not work. egg freezing is absolutely not a fertility insurance policy. it offers that hope but it doesn't offer that guarantee. and we reveal concerns that some clinics aren't being fully transparent about the chances of success. i did feel at times like a patient. and then, at other times, you do feel like

a bit like a customer. but sometimes, it's a success. oh, my god, this actually worked — i'm going to have a baby! and i'm doing this by myself. over the past four months, i've kind of been here, there and everywhere, really. stayed in all sorts of places. like, shared beds with my friends, spare rooms, hotels, even my friend evie, her daughter gigi's bed at one point. and i'm pretty sure that i'm bigger than the bed, but you know, you make it work. i was in a long—term relationship. i was in that relationship for seven years. and i was actually engaged as well. so i was supposed to be getting

married in a few months' time. but, basically, yeah, to cut a long story short, as stable as that relationship seemed, this summer, things changed and i had to make the decision to leave that relationship. being 37, i then had to decide pretty quickly whether i wanted to consider egg freezing or not and, to be fair, i don't have to pay for a wedding now, so... laughs ..had some extra cash! i'm going to go in for my egg retrieval in a few days' time. i'm looking forward to seeing the results. equally, i am looking forward to it being over. diet, lifestyle, everything — i've been really quite committed to it and it would be nice to take that pressure off. and ro is farfrom alone. we've also followed people who've put their eggs on ice for medical reasons and those who are part of a growing trend of so—called social egg freezing,

who want to improve their chances of having a biological baby later on. i think i was getting overwhelmed with thoughts of, "oh, my god, am i ever going to have a child?" it's notjust my own head — it's everyone around you. i froze my eggs because i had cancer treatment and the chances were just very slim for me to naturally have a baby. it's a bloated day, and it's, like, rock hard. i've got something called endometriosis. i've had four surgeries so far on my ovaries and so, i knew that fertility might be an issue, just because of the surgeries. but also, with endometriosis, you do have the unfortunate circumstance that you might be infertile, too. i'm not in a relationship. i don't want to have kids right now. the only real thing for me to do is to freeze my eggs. i knew about the egg freezing process but i did not know- that it's accessible to trans people. i it meant the ability - to have a biological family. but what is it? let's start with the basics. there are lots of reasons people might find it difficult to have a baby, but one

factor might be the eggs. a woman is born with all the eggs she'll ever have. the chances of conceiving naturally fall as we get older because the quality and number of eggs decline. for some, this happens because of medical reasons. the theory of egg freezing — freeze them at a younger or more fertile point and they could be used further down the line. there's been a revolution in technology, in egg freezing. the first baby born from a frozen egg was born in 1986, but that was from a process which wasn't very successful. in 2005, a new technology was developed — vitrification — fast freezing of eggs. dr catherine hill is from one of the uk's largest fertility charities. in the fertility sector, unlike many other areas of health, patients become consumers because, whether it's for ivf or for egg freezing, the majority of patients have

to pay for their own healthcare. chances are you might have seen posts like this on your social feeds, promoting the treatment. the fertility sector is a multimillion—pound industry and egg freezing in particular is booming. in a decade, the number of egg—freezing treatments in the uk, known as cycles, have gone up from a few hundred to over 4,000, and it's still growing. not all women should freeze their eggs or need to freeze their eggs. most women will be able to have children without egg freezing or without ivf. but one in six people do struggle with infertility and egg freezing can help. but it's a physical and emotional price more and more are willing to pay, partly spurred on by celebrities speaking about it. 0bviously, i've started the process there. hmm. you can start to see all my little tum—tum. one of those is reality tv star

and presenter vicky pattison, who shared her egg freezing experiences with her millions of followers in 2023. oh, i had a bit ofa cry. i wanted to use my platform for good and i want women to take control of their own timeline, you know? when i froze my eggs, it was the first time in my whole adult life i've relaxed. vicky says the treatment wasn't a promotion and that she paid for it herself. this process, freezing your eggs, is stilljust available to a very privileged and specific section of britain, you know? i do think that needs to change. most people freezing their eggs do it privately. 0ne cycle of egg freezing costs around £4,000 but this will be more depending on the clinic, the amount of hormones and scans needed, and doesn't include annual storage fees or future fertility treatments like ivf. the more eggs collected, the better chances of having a baby, so multiple cycles may be recommended. laughs

my name's vicky and i've done two rounds of egg freezing — one at 3a and one at 35. laughs massive close—up! i was married. i was with someone from the age of 17 to 29, but itjust didn't work out. and then, covid hit and i'd always talked about freezing my eggs — it was always something that was on my radar. like all people freezing their eggs, vicki had her fertility tested. her levels were lower than average for her age. when i went in, i was really positive. i was like, "i'll do one round, get all my eggs, done, "in the freezer. "relax." 0bviously, when i went in, you know, they said, "we're looking. "we probably will get this amount of eggs, "so you'll probably have to do two to three rounds." vicki got a second job to help fund the treatment. so far, i've spent about eight grand? seven — between seven

and eight grand. it's ridiculous. i just... i can't afford it. like, i genuinely can't afford it, but i see it as an investment in my future. but how does egg freezing actually work? in an average menstrual cycle, one mature egg is released each month. in an egg—freezing cycle, hormones are injected to stimulate egg follicles, so multiple eggs grow and can be collected. there can be side—effects, like bloating, and in rare cases, too many eggs develop in the ovaries, leading to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome which, if severe, can be dangerous. when ready, eggs are taken out in an operation. 0nly mature eggs with the potential to become embryos that could withstand the freezing, thawing and fertilisation are frozen. every month, one egg will be the one that's chosen at random to grow and the others

just get discarded. whereas, in an egg freezing protocol, we are just looking to recruit and save those follicles destined just to be discarded for no good reason and grow them all, so it does not reduce your reserve any quicker than you would normally naturally do and it's not a reason why you'd go into an early menopause. many people on a fertility journey often say that they rattle for the amount of supplements that they take, and i think this is also true of me. with just days to go until ro's egg collection, she's doing all she can to prepare her body. i'm on a couple of injections at the moment, one of which is to grow and stimulating many follicles to grow. and then this one is a slightly scarier dart—like injection that's kind of preventing the follicles and the eggs from ovulating. so it's kind of like a fine balance between the two. i've got oil... whoa! health and safety! for some, egg freezing for medical reasons can be done forfree on the nhs...

no, i'm a bit scared of eggs. ugh! ..but access varies across the uk. tegan clarke was 18 when she was diagnosed with cancer and quickly started treatment. you don't eat sweetcorn? yeah, cos itjust goes straight through you. what's the point in eating it? when i signed my waiver form, they kind of brush over it and say, "oh, you might not be able to have kids". and i was very much in my career—driven phase, where i wanted to go to uni, i wanted to be a boss. i didn't think about it. my mum walked out crying, and i was like, "she's being dramatic. " so if you close your eyes now... - after she completed her cancer treatment, tegan had two rounds of egg freezing. as much as i'm 23, my fertility is, like, 33, so they can class me as medically infertile because i'm not where i should be for my age. it's not something you want to put in your tinder profile —

not that i'm on tinder anyway. it does kind of hurt sometimes — like, i'm going to get teary now. like, watching my sister—in—law have a baby, like, my best friend's sister have a baby, it was like, sometimes you look and you think, "that might not be me." a positive mindset is everything, and it is bad — just look at the things that you've been through. listen, i got through cancer. if i can't have a child, then i don't have to deal with pooey nappies and sick, like... there is a bit of sunshine in all that rain. my name is taylor. i'm soon to be 40 years old. i was born in— transylvania, romania. i know some people think that transylvania is fictive, - but it's not —| it does exist. when i was growing up, i realised that i don't i actually feel like a girl, so i felt like a boy. - growing up in romania . and having this stereotype image of a traditional family,

it's kind of like imprinted - in your mind that, "this is what i have to do". i but that all changed when taylor moved to the uk. he transitioned at the age of 34. i always tell people it's never too late. i hi! so, today, we are going to talk about egg freezing and how- to go about freezing your eggs through the nhs. . when i first find out - that they do try to help trans people having their own - biological family, i was very happy and i wanted to sort of get it out of the way — l meaning to secure my eggs, to know that they're frozen, | and to know that i'll be able to have biological kids, - which is something . that i always wanted. the beauty of technology is for everyone, - it's notjust for a particular group of people to access. if it's there, it should be available to everyone. . it's 7:30 in the morning and the day of ro's procedure. it kind of feels like the end of one chapter and just about to be the

beginning of another. going into the operating theatre, that's when it gets really real. so, i think when people think about egg freezing, you don't necessarily have this picture in mind of it's like a proper operating theatre. while rois under sedation, eggs are taken out one at a time using a needle that's passed through the vagina and into each ovary follicle. fluid is collected. the embryologist then painstakingly examines the fluid to see if there's an egg present. there's some cells surrounding this egg, but the egg is the darkest bit. the egg is then checked to see if it's mature. ro now goes into recovery, where she'll be told how many eggs were collected. but what are the chances those frozen eggs will result ina baby? it's very hard to give one average figure for the

success of egg freezing because egg freezing depends on so many factors. first and foremost, it depends on the age of the woman who is freezing her eggs. it also depends on her medical history as well. few patients in the uk have come back to use their eggs yet. for those that do, the success rates are slightly lower than ivf with fresh eggs, which is around 20 to 30% per round, depending on their age, but could be as low as 5% for people over 40. fertility experts say chances are better for people aged 35 and under, which is the cut—off point that eggs can be donated. if we can get 15—20 mature eggs banked in storage for this woman, then that gives us a really good chance. dr sharleen hapuarachi is a consultant at bourn hall, the oldest ivf clinic in the world. it's one of the 78 clinics that

advertise private egg freezing. the benefits of egg freezing are really for women to come through and have it as an insurance policy or a back—up plan. but other fertility experts that we've spoken to are critical of this type of language, arguing egg freezing should never be described as an insurance policy or safety net because it suggests there's a guarantee it'll work. i can understand the trepidation, i think, because it's not a fail—safe, it's not an absolute guarantee — which i'm sure some people are selling it as. by no means would i ever want to suggest someone who's thinking about pregnancy to delay pregnancy any further because we all know the earlier you become pregnant — you know, in the 20s, early 30s — is the safest way to do it. i'm natalie thomas and i've done two rounds of egg freezing when i was 39. my immediate family —

like my mum, my dad and my brother — it'sjust quite small and so, when my dad passed away, to me, it was important that we grew our family a little bit. as a science teacher, i understand statistics and i work with data a lot and i actually found this very difficult to navigate, trying to find the information in the first place but then, also trying to understand it. i feel it was a journey that i felt very alone on and that i was the one that was driving it. natalie was offered three rounds for the price of two but turned it down because she hoped she would only have to do it once. to be woken up and to be told they collected seven and seven were mature, i was quite dispirited by that. however, it's tricky because i know that there are women out there that don't even collect seven. 20 minutes after the operation, ro is recovering from the sedation. it's very difficult to not become fixated on the numbers. it will be what it will be.

so, this is hot off the press. oh, wow. this is a photograph of all your eggs. we've just spoken to javier, head of embryology. - yeah. and all 13 are mature. 0k? which is really wonderful. yeah, i'm really happy with that. i'm really happy too. yeah. the whole process, it is quite intense — especially if you consider the months of prep — and it takes, you know, emotional energy as well to do it. so, for me, personally, i don't think that i will probably do another round. i think i willjust leave it as it is with the one round. the growing fertility sector has changed lives but there are concerns about the tactics some clinics use and how transparent they are about costs and success rates. increasingly, we have women coming to us saying, "i'm thinking about egg freezing, but i don't know "what to do.

"is it for me? "where can i get the information that i need?" so, they're not feeling like they are getting the information from clinics. what they should be getting is individualised information on their chances of success and if a clinic isn't providing that, there is then the potential of exploiting women, rather than empowering them. during the treatment, when you're actually having the eggs collected or you're having your scans, then you definitely feel like a patient. but when you're sat there in the office and they're going through all their packages, you definitely feel like a customer. research we carried out found that 41% of clinics' websites that promote private egg freezing in the uk could be breaching advertising guidance. examples include highlighting success rates, showing percentages in the high 90s — but these numbers only cover defrosting the eggs. what isn't always clear is that the chances of having a baby are much lower.

we also found statistics were being used without saying where they're from. i feel very angry for patients because they are being misled by this level of information. to invest in egg freezing, a massive financial investment, what a key decision in your life. the sector is regulated by the human embryology and fertilisation authority. freezing eggs for medical reasons is very different to freezing for social reasons. we are concerned about the information women are getting when they're considering this process. it's a medical procedure. there are risks. there is not a lot of data about success rates and, actually, this is not guaranteed. a representative for the sector told us that:

the clinics filmed in this documentary didn't breach the guidance, and ro says she always felt fully informed. for many, freezing their eggs is just the start of the process. natalie is one of the small number of women who have come back to use their frozen eggs. she ended up moving the eggs to a different clinic that had higher ivf success rates. i decided, in the end, to thaw 16 of the 28 eggs and, of the 16, i2 survived the thaw and then, of the 12, six actually fertilised, so i ended up with six embryos and two were finally implanted. it felt really special. you know, you're carrying round precious cargo. you're told to wait until two weeks before you can take a pregnancy test, and that's really hard to do. so, i think i caved about day seven and i took a test and there was this very faint line. i just got really excited. and i remember testing every day from day seven onwards,

and itjust got stronger and stronger and stronger. hiya! hello, sweetie! there's a lot of emotions. like, one, you're so excited, but then, there's this scary kind of, "oh, my god — this actually worked. "i'm going to have a baby and i'm doing this by myself!" mama! is it mama? natalie had the support of her mum throughout, who she now lives with. she ended up spending over £18,000 in total but, for her, it was a worthwhile cost. holding huxley for the first time, you're in awe that this baby has come from a frozen egg, frozen sperm, that you froze back when you were 39 years old. you're 42 now. science is fantastic. it's wonderful, really, that we can do this now. women my age — single, solo mother by choice — you can make this decision, make this choice and have a baby. vicky and herfiance ercan are due to get married later this year.

with three eggs and three embryos on ice, for now, they're happy with theirfamily as it is. so, for anyone who doesn't know, embryos are tiny little me and ercans. they're already in the freezer. and then, i have three just me — three just eggs as well. and the success rate is higherfor embryos. if a patient decides they no longer need them, they can be destroyed or, in some cases, donated. touch wood, you and ercan naturally conceive. would you donate them? my eggs, i will donate. i've had... oh, god — i'm going to cry again. i've got some friends who've really struggled to have kids — really struggled — and i've seen what it does to women. i've seen what it does to relationships. it's heartbreaking, soul—destroying. if we aren't using them, i would like to see them go to a good home.

in spring 2024, natalie�*s egg—freezing journey is at an end and huxley is about to turn one. for vicki, taylor, ro and tegan, they have their eggs in storage but will they use them? oh, god! do i say about this guy? well, if i'm not with him, you'd have to edit it out — i mean, i know you can't include that! for vicki, she doesn't know if she'll need her eggs but is glad she did it. what i've gone through is because i've got such a strong desire to have a child and if i didn't have that, then i would have saved loads of money, i wouldn't be in debt, i'd bejetting off around the world, probably. but then, the panic would be overwhelming. taylor did one round and has eight frozen eggs. he's hoping to have ivf this year using them. his partner chloe would carry the baby. my experience with egg freezing, it was kind of like a roller—coaster.

so, emotionally and physically, it was up and down, but i got what i wanted from it. me and my partner, we both completely understand the success rate but that doesn't stop us from being positive. eggs and embryos can be stored for up to 55 years and, for tegan, she's not in any rush. that does not mean that i'm going to be having a child in 55 years, cos my knees hurt already! and as much as i'm medically infertile, i could actually still have a baby naturally, so the eggs in the freezer might even not be needed. when i was walking down the street with my suitcase earlierand then, like, a song came on, it's like, # we're coming home, baby, now... i was, like, "oh!" we've come to see ro one last time in her new home. it may be for me that i've kind of like got blinkers on and i'm just focusing on the future that's ahead of me, and that's just the way that i'm dealing with this. egg freezing was kind of the start of my new chapter because, for me, right now, i'm not going to be thinking

really about having kids. i'm kind of putting that to the back of my mind now and now, i've moved into my new place, i can start living life properly again now. and what are you doing tonight? going on a date. laughs going on a date. hello there. friday was a very warm day for april. temperatures widely reached the high teens and the warmest spots had temperatures a bit higher than that. 21.5 degrees celsius was recorded at both st james' park and northolt, both

in greater london, making it the warmest day of the year so far. we have something of a change in the weather forecast, though, for saturday. cooler air is going to be arriving across both scotland and northern ireland behind this cold front, and that's significant because scotland also recorded its warmest day of 2024 as well on friday — 20.2 degrees celsius in fyvie castle. but across scotland and northern ireland, temperatures widely will be dropping by around five or six degrees celsius into saturday, so you will notice that significant change. right now, the weather is quite quiet, though. we've got a few patches of high cloud around, one or two areas of mist and fog, and a few showers coming in across northern areas with the winds strengthening slightly. temperatures as we start saturday morning around 8—11 degrees celsius. we're looking at a mild start to the day. now, a band of rain, a cold front will quickly swing its way into northern ireland and scotland. as that moves eastwards, what will follow is blustery showers with some hailstorms mixed in, the winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour further southwards. now, a patch of rain

for northern england and across wales. otherwise, largely dry. much cooler air across scotland and northern ireland arrives through the afternoon, whereas across england and wales, it's going to be the last of the really warm days. temperatures, i suspect, will reach around 21 or 22 in the warmest areas of eastern england with colder air arriving across most parts of england and wales after dark. well, that takes us into sunday's forecast, and sunday is going to be a blustery day for scotland and northern ireland. frequent showers here, some of them with hail and thunder mixed in. there will be a few showers developing through the day across northern england and wales but it may well stay largely dry across east anglia and the south of england. wherever you are, temperatures will be much closer to average. 15 degrees in london. so, a big change from the low 20s that we'll have on saturday. it will feel cooler. 0n into the start of the new week, monday sees low pressure move in off the atlantic with this cold front diving its way southwards across the country and that's going to be bringing a spell of rain followed by showers, showery weather conditions around for tuesday and for wednesday, but the weather should become drier and a bit warmer towards the end of next week.

bye for now. live from washington. this is bbc news. the us says the threat of an iranian attack on israel is real and viable as president biden issues

a clear warning to iran. un agencies say parts of sudan may tip into famine if the civil war continues. we'll have rare pictures from the ground. russia targets critical infrastructure in ukraine, as us aid to the country remains stalled. us presidentjoe biden is warning iran not to take military action against israel as the us government says such an attack could happen imminently. iran vowed to retaliate after an apparent israeli air strike on its consulate in syria killed at least 13 people — including a senior military commander. that attack was condemned by the un's secretary general, who said diplomatic and consular premises are off limits under international law. now, nearly two weeks later, american officials are telling cbs news that an iranian strike on israel could come at any moment.