Fertility clinics see rise in women enquiring about egg freezing during lockdown

• Video report by Anna Youssef

There has been an increase in egg freezing in the North West in the last year with one clinic in Cheshire seeing enquiries rise by a quarter.

More women are freezing their eggs than ever before, with age being an important factor - with those under the age of 35 have a higher chance of a successful pregnancy.

Professor Geeta Nargund, Medical Director of Create Fertility, thinks that coronavirus has made people reevaluate what they want from the future.

"During this pandemic, women are reflecting on their lives and future and reevaluating what really matters to them and family matters to them," she said.

"Women don't want to lose out on biological motherhood. It has been difficult to date due to lockdown rules... and women want to protect their future fertility."

Sarah Pattison from Preston always wanted to be a mum. After a long term relationship ended at 34 she decided to go it alone. 

She had hormone injections to help with egg collection then found a sperm donor.

She said: "It was daunting but I knew I wanted to be a mum."

It took one round of IVF for Sarah to become pregnant. Her son Lochlan's now 18 months old.

Sarah's now 37 and still has one frozen embryo. She hopes to give her son a sibling.

As lockdown restrictions continue - many more women may turn to science to plan their families and preserve their fertility.

Advice and support on fertility treatment can be found here.