I spent $6,000 on my egg retrieval. I’m doing it because I’m not ready to have kids but want to have the option in the future.

Amy E. Price/Getty Images Shira Lazar, an Emmy-nominated TV host, froze her eggs to give herself the opportunity to have kids. She now has 16 mature eggs in storage and a 60% chance of using those eggs to conceive.

This is Shira’s story, as told to Joelle Speranza. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shira Lazar. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As a 39-year-old woman with a demanding career in broadcast media, I am the last of my friends to be married or have kids. This is nothing unexpected. I’ve always told people that I probably would have a kid in my 40s.

My 20s and 30s were dedicated to figuring out myself and my career. My 40s, I envision, will be when I begin writing the chapter of my life that includes my own family. I don’t know when exactly I’ll be ready to have children, but I am sure of one thing: I want to give myself the opportunity to have the healthiest children possible.

That’s why I’ve always considered freezing my eggs. And I finally did it. The process started 4 years agoI started researching the egg-freezing and retrieval process in 2018.

At the time, I was 35 years old and had been in a relationship for a few years, but the conversation around kids hadn’t been something we nailed down as a couple. As I was debating on going forward with the procedure, that relationship ended and I simultaneously found myself in a financially challenging period of my life. With that, the whole idea of egg freezing was put on hold.

Now, I’ve been in a relationship for nearly two years with someone I can picture coparenting with, and we began having conversations about kids. Knowing that I am probably going to start trying to conceive after 40, I was faced with what I felt would be my last chance to have healthier eggs. So my partner and I both got tested.

This was a really eye-opening and important process. We saw how fertile we both were and identified genetic issues we could pass on to our children. With that, I decided to go with egg freezing instead of embryos, which was cheaper and easier for me.

It cost me $6,000 for the retrieval, plus $600 a year for storageI used Dr. Holly Mehr at Kindbody for the entire process, which costs about $6,000, plus $600 a year for storage fees. From start to finish, it took seven months.

I made sure to schedule appointments around work and life commitments because it’s uncertain how your body will react or which mood swings may occur from the hormones. It was a two-week process for the shots and retrieval, followed by two weeks of recovery until I got my period at the end of the month. My physical and emotional health were at the forefront.

Physically, I got a bit bloated and swollen.  Every morning and night, I practiced affirmations and visualizations of healthy eggs growing and would say out loud, “You are strong, you are big, and you are healthy. “I let go of any judgment of how to feel and shared my journey with friends and colleagues so they would be aware that I was in a vulnerable state.

I was nervous going into the procedure and worried about how my body would react. My boyfriend brought me to the hospital and drove me home. Afterward, I felt a bit of pain in my lower abdomen, but it was manageable.

I spent the day in bed watching Netflix and sleeping off the anesthesia. Because I was still swollen, I was going to the bathroom a lot and couldn’t eat heavy meals.  Out of the 25 eggs they retrieved, there were 16 mature ones.

This gives me a bit over a 60% chance of using those eggs to conceive a baby. Now, I pay an annual storage fee, but the peace of mind I have is priceless.  I hope sharing my story helps destigmatize these practices and paths in life.

Lazar is an Emmy-nominated host and interviewer covering social media, culture, and wellness. She is the founder of “What’s Trending. “Read the original article on Insider.