Fertility Treatments
Egg Freezing: A Path to Fertility Preservation
Egg freezing, or mature oocyte cryopreservation, offers women the ability to preserve their fertility by freezing eggs at their current age, enabling potential future pregnancies.
Why Consider Egg Freezing?
Common Motivations:
Planning for the Future: Many opt to delay starting a family due to personal, social, or career reasons. Egg freezing provides a way to maintain fertility despite the natural decline in egg quality with age.
Cancer Treatment: Treatments like chemotherapy and radiation pose risks to fertility. Egg freezing before these interventions can safeguard a woman’s ability to conceive later.
Gender Transition: For those undergoing hormone therapy for gender transition, egg freezing is a recommended step to preserve fertility.
Risk of Premature Ovarian Failure (POF): Individuals facing a high risk of POF, due to genetic conditions or family history, may choose egg freezing as a proactive measure.
Before Certain Surgeries: Surgeries that might damage the ovaries or necessitate their removal can prompt the decision to freeze eggs.
The Egg Freezing Process Simplified
Initial Steps:
Consultation and Assessment: The journey begins with a consultation to tailor an egg freezing plan. This can be conducted remotely for those far from the clinic. Following the consultation, assistance with medication acquisition, payment, and paperwork preparation sets the stage for the cycle.
Ovarian Stimulation:
Over approximately ten days, hormone injections are administered to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. Monitoring through ultrasounds and blood tests ensures optimal response to the medication, adjusting the treatment plan as needed.
Egg Retrieval Procedure:
A brief, minimally invasive procedure under sedation, where eggs are collected directly from the ovaries using a needle passed through the vaginal wall. Post-procedure, most individuals can quickly resume their usual activities.
Freezing the Eggs:
Using vitrification, a rapid freezing technique, eggs are cryopreserved in the clinic’s embryology lab, located adjacent to the operating rooms. Stored in long-term cryogenic tanks, these eggs remain available for future use.
Alternatives to Egg Freezing
Embryo Freezing: For those with a partner, freezing embryos offers another avenue for future fertility.
Split Cycle Freezing: This option allows for some eggs to be fertilized (often with donor sperm) and some to remain unfertilized, providing flexibility for future family planning.
Ovarian Tissue Freezing: An experimental approach involving the freezing of ovarian tissue for potential future reattachment to restore natural fertility.
Egg freezing presents a strategic choice for those looking to preserve their fertility for future family building, accommodating various personal and medical circumstances.