A woman who is fighting for her chance to start a family is bringing the first legal challenge in the UK against fertility legislation that places a 10-year time limit on the storage of frozen eggs.

The woman paid to freeze her eggs in 2009 because she was not in a relationship, but hoped to have a baby in the future. However, fertility laws compel clinics to destroy frozen eggs after 10 years, irrespective of a woman’s age or wishes.

The 51-year-old woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is seeking a judicial review aimed at overturning the time limit, which her lawyer argues is incompatible with human rights laws on private and family life.

“The time limit is arbitrary and isn’t science-based,” said the woman, whose eggs are scheduled to be destroyed in four months’ time. “It’s unfair to prevent women who have frozen their eggs from using them.”

The time limit has already been widely criticised by campaigners who argue that it is discriminatory. Fertility doctors have raised concerns that the current limit discourages women from freezing their eggs at a younger age when they are most fertile.

At the time the law was introduced, eggs could not be stored effectively for long periods of time, meaning the time limit mostly served to allow clinics to destroy samples that had no prospect of being used.

About a decade ago, clinics began to adopt a new freezing technique, called vitrification, that allowed eggs to be stored almost indefinitely without deteriorating. This prompted a steep increase in “social” egg freezing and means an increasing number of women are running up against the limit.

“I was one of the small group of women who were at the pioneering end of this,” said the woman. “When I did it there were hundreds of women having this done each year; there are now thousands. I’m fighting this – not just for myself, but for the next generation of women.”

The woman has launched a crowdfunding campaign to extend the 10-year egg freezing storage limit , aimed at covering the legal fees required to seek a judicial review in court.

The number of women in the UK opting to freeze their eggs has increased from fewer than 300 in 2010 to 1,300 in 2016, according to official figures. However, there were fewer than 200 thawing cycles each year until 2015, meaning that thousands of women have frozen eggs but have yet to use them, meaning they are potentially affected by the time limit.

The limit is not designed to restrict the maximum age at which women can seek fertility treatment – this decision is made by clinics.

The woman bringing the challenge, who works in London, would like to have the opportunity to use her eggs up until the age of about 55 years, beyond which most clinics in the UK would not take her on as a patient. “A common myth is that women want to have their eggs until their 60s or 70s,” she said. “I know there will come a point in the next couple of years where I’ll say: ‘enough is enough.’ I’ll know I’m too old.”

She said another myth was that women froze their eggs because they wanted “a wine bar lifestyle”. The woman said: “That’s a misconception that needs to be debunked. Most people by their mid- to late-30s have completed their education, have achieved career goals, are financially stable – all that’s missing is a partner.”

Salima Budhani of the law firm Bindmans, who is representing the woman, said: “There have been significant medical advances and social progress since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 passed through parliament, but the rules relating to non-medical egg freezing have not changed. The issues arising for women who are facing the storage limit clearly fall within the remit of human rights law, which protects the right to private and family life, and the unduly restrictive time limit is very likely vulnerable to challenge.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The government has no plans to reconsider this legislation at this time.”