Scarlette Douglas described freezing her eggs as ‘the best decision she ever made’ and opened up about her fertility journey.
The 37-year-old A Place In The Sun star underwent the treatment earlier this year to relieve the “stress” and “pressure” of having to start a relationship and start a family before her “biological clock gets old”.
Scarlette says she now feels like a ‘weight has been lifted off her shoulders’ as she is not currently in a serious relationship and does not feel she needs to ‘rush into anything’.
The ITV presenter exclusively told MailOnline she feels ‘amazing’ following the procedure and has spoken openly about her experience.
She said: ‘I feel great, I feel good, I feel like there’s no pressure on me. I don’t have to stress and worry about the fact that I’m 37, it’s kind of been lifted off my shoulders, like, “Oh, I don’t have a time limit anymore, that’s great.”
Scarlette Douglas described freezing her eggs as ‘the best decision she ever made’ as she opened up about her fertility journey
The 37-year-old A Place In The Sun star underwent the procedure this year to take the ‘stress’ and ‘pressure’ off herself to find a relationship and start a family before her ‘biological clock gets old’
“I’m not in a rush now and I’m not thinking, ‘Oh, I have to go with a man and make stupid mistakes with the wrong people.’ Obviously it’s a big decision to have kids, so you don’t want to rush it.
“It took me a month, but it was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I would recommend other women to look into this as well.”
The former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star revealed that despite being a “career-driven woman”, she was still keen to “future-proof” her plans to one day have children.
Scarlette told MailOnline: ‘I’m 37 now, which I know is young, but I think as women we have a bit of a biological clock and it gets quite old.
‘They say that from the age of 35 the number of eggs and the quality of them decreases and just deteriorates.
‘I am a career-driven woman. I don’t have a partner yet and we are talking about children and things like that. I want to secure that and make it future-proof.
‘This way I have already frozen my eggs, in case I want to have children in the future. That way I know that I have an alternative, in case I don’t meet anyone and want to do it the traditional way.’
Scarlette said she underwent the treatment at Harley Street Fertility Clinic, which lasted almost two weeks in total.
Scarlette exclusively told MailOnline that she feels like a ‘weight has been lifted off her shoulders’ as she is not currently in a serious relationship and doesn’t have to ‘rush into anything’.
She said: ‘I feel great, I feel good, I feel like there’s no pressure on me. I don’t have to stress and worry about being 37, it’s just been lifted off my shoulders’
“It took me about a month, it’s intense, but for the time it was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I would recommend it to other women to consider it as well.”
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA), egg freezing and thawing costs on average between £7,000 and £8,000 and eggs can be stored for up to 55 years.
According to HEFA, the success rates for frozen eggs are generally quite low. However, because egg freezing technology has improved over the years, older data are not comparable to current success rates.
Scarlette admitted it is an ‘intense’ few weeks but once the procedure is over there is nothing to worry about. She urged more women to ‘talk about’ egg freezing.
The presenter explained: ‘I would say you have to plan about a month into your schedule. From the injection to the time the eggs came out was about two weeks, maybe ten days. That’s not too bad, but they do keep a close eye on you.
‘I had it done at Harley Street Fertility Clinic and they were amazing. They really took their time and made sure they monitored me closely with various scans and blood tests.
“It sounds like it’s a lot and it’s intense, but it’s just intense for the period of time that you’re doing it. Then it kind of subsides and your eggs are out and they’re in the freezer and you don’t have to worry about it.
“I know it’s very expensive, but there are ways to do it with payment plans. But if anyone is thinking about it, just ask the question.
“Please contact me or look online and ask a nurse or doctor for advice. I think we should discuss this if we have the opportunity.”
In early April, Scarlette took to social media to let her fans know how much the fertility treatment would cost.
She wrote: ‘OMG I feel a million times better today! Rest and water are my best friends! Thank you for all your get well messages xx
‘Here is the full cost breakdown: Consultation £250, Female fertility scan £300, Health scan £250, Provera hormone tablets £10 (2 packs of £5 each), 2x 36mcg pens £600 (£300 each), 1x 72mcg pen £600
Meriofert (powder with water injection) £210 (7x £30), One cycle of egg freezing £3700, 2x trigger injection (2 powders £60 each) £120, 5x post injections £150 (£30 each), 8 post tablets (1 pot) £10
‘*I forgot Progynova, this is the HRT I was taking at the beginning. I think it was £10, *Correction* Total £6210. Minus £300 for referrals and the total £5910, plus or minus.’
In March, Scarlette was in tears during a hospital visit as she began her fertility journey.
She admitted it is an “intense” few weeks but once the procedure is over there is nothing to worry about and urged more women to “talk about” egg freezing.
The star shared on Instagram that she was in the hospital for an egg retrieval, which left her emotional.
She told her followers: ‘Well I’ll be honest ladies, I was feeling very uncomfortable today.
‘The trigger injection really made the bloating and lower abdominal pain worse and the closer it got to my egg retrieval the more uncomfortable I became. I had to sit on my left side most of the day!’
Scarlette said that before the operation she had tears in her eyes because no one could be with her.
She wrote: ‘Everything was explained well and I felt in good hands. I did shed a tear just before the anesthetic went in, mainly because I was scared and nervous, but also because you have to do it all yourself; no one is allowed to come with you.
“Anyway, I had the best night’s sleep ever. When I came out, I was in pain so they gave me some more painkillers. Then they hung around for about an hour and a half and just as I was leaving the recovery room, I was told that 24 eggs had been collected and 19 were viable for freezing!!!!! I was over the moon!”
‘That was more than I could ever have dreamed of and I was and am so incredibly happy that it has all been worth it so far.’