For a professional athlete, deciding when to become a mother can turn into a race against time. The years when a woman can reach her peak athletic performance coincide with a period when female fertility begins to decline.
And in sports like football, a pregnancy can mean far more than just a temporary pause.
“In the life of a professional athlete the years of highest performance coincide with the years in which it would be advisable to consider pregnancy,” explains Rebeca Begueria, a doctor specializing in reproductive health.
The difference compared to other professions is evident: a footballer depends on her physical condition to work, and stopping her career to pursue a pregnancy can carry a significant professional cost.
“It is difficult for a professional footballer to become pregnant and then, after 14-15 months, return to the sport in the same condition she had before,” she notes.
It is precisely at this point that egg vitrification can become an option for some athletes who want to preserve their fertility while continuing to compete.
But there is one factor that cannot be ignored: age. “Egg quality deteriorates as we get older,” explains the doctor. Fertility loss becomes significant from the age of 35 and “very marked” from 38 onward.
Therefore, according to Begueria, vitrification is ideally designed for women between 28 and 35 years old.
How long does a footballer need to pause to freeze her eggs?
One of the big questions athletes have is whether this treatment can interfere with training and competitions.
The vitrification process lasts roughly 15 days of medication, followed by another 10-15 days of recovery. “In broad terms, we could say that it takes about a month to be able to return to the same physical conditions,” explains Begueria.
Although ovarian stimulation is usually a tolerable treatment, it does not mean that an athlete can maintain exactly the same level of effort. The ovaries enlarge and fatigue, abdominal bloating, breast pain or migraines may appear.
Additionally, there is an added risk for a footballer: injuries. For this reason, the doctor recommends reducing the intensity of training during the process.
“They will not be able to perform exactly the same,” she warns.
The issue is not only how the athlete feels, but also how her body responds to hormonal treatment while under high physical demand.
Freezing eggs does not guarantee motherhood in the future
One of the points the specialist stresses most is that egg vitrification is not a guarantee of pregnancy.
The current recommendation, she explains, is to try to obtain at least 15 eggs, whenever possible. However, the outcome will depend on multiple factors: the woman’s age when she froze them, the quality of her eggs, and the quality of the sperm with which they are subsequently fertilized.
“Egg vitrification does not guarantee pregnancy,” she stresses.
Still, when a sufficient number of eggs is successfully vitrified in a woman under 35, she considers there is “a good chance that the technique will work in the future.”
And there is another aspect elite athletes should know before getting started: anti-doping controls. A footballer who receives hormonal medication to vitrify her eggs must inform the club and check the applicable rules in advance, since some of the medications used may not be permitted in anti-doping controls.
In these cases it may be necessary to request a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) before starting treatment.
The doctor also agrees with Ana Peleteiro, who has argued that freezing eggs cannot become a substitute for real policies of work-life balance and maternity protection.
For Begueria, both debates must be addressed separately: better work-life balance policies are needed, but there are also women who do not want to become mothers at 30 even if help is available.
That is why her main advice is not to vitrify eggs simply because it is an increasingly popular option. “This is not about freezing eggs without thinking ahead and because it’s fashionable now,” she warns.
Before making a decision, it is essential to consider age, ovarian reserve, and each woman’s personal and medical history. “Personalization is necessary in this specialty and there are many variables to consider,” she concludes.
