Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, is a fertility preservation technique where eggs are collected from a woman and saved for future use.
Egg freezing is a way to preserve your alternatives by freezing your eggs when you have them, for personal reasons to delay pregnancy, if you are having a therapy that could affect your ovarian function or other reasons.
The fertility specialists at Jeevan Jyoti IVF Center will consider your age, ovarian reserve, reproductive goals and medical history to determine if egg freezing is suitable for you.
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Egg freezing is a method of fertility preservation in which mature eggs are extracted from the ovary and frozen for future use.
Egg freezing is different from freezing of embryos, when eggs are fertilized with sperm before freezing. That way, the lady can store her eggs without having to decide on a sperm supplier or create embryos.
If a future pregnancy is desired, the eggs can be thawed and fertilized (typically with ICSI or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) and the resulting embryos can be used in a future IVF cycle.
The primary purpose of egg freezing is to preserve the reproductive potential of the eggs at the point of freezing. But egg freezing does not guarantee future pregnancy or live birth.
The fertility of a woman changes naturally with age. As age increases, both the amount and quality of eggs drop, and this decrease is increasingly significant with increasing age. Some women choose to freeze their eggs while they are young, in case they want to use them later. There may be all sorts of personal or health reasons for it to be recommended.
Delay Conception
Some women have goals for education or a job, financial reasons, loved ones or their own aspirations for which they want to delay birth.
If eggs can be frozen then the egg freezing option can be taken up to freeze the eggs while they are available.
Before Certain Medical Procedures
Some types of cancer treatment or other medical treatment may affect the way your ovary works or your fertility.
Egg freezing is an option prior to treatment, if medically possible in the time available.
Diminished Ovarian Reserve
Women concerned about limited ovarian reserve and wanting to preserve their fertility might speak to a professional about the option of egg freezing.
Individualized Fertility Planning
There are other women who may want to keep open the possibility of being moms in the future, even if they are not planning to be such at the moment.
Egg freezing is a personal decision. You can undergo a fertility consultation to see if it is likely to be a good fit for you.
Egg freezing is like the first phases of an IVF treatment.
The first step your fertility specialist will take is analyzing your medical and reproductive history.
The test is needed to see how your ovaries respond and to determine what therapy you may need.
With drugs , the ovary is stimulated with reproductive hormones to produce more than one egg to develop during one period.
The prescription meds may have to be given for about 8-12 days and that may be different for each person. During this period your doctor will monitor follicle growth by ultrasound and blood tests if needed.
A trigger medicine is given to assist the eggs mature at the correct stage of development. Egg retrieval is then scheduled at the proper time.
Egg retrieval is performed with a tiny needle inserted into the vagina with the aid of ultrasonography. This is often done sedated or under anesthetic as per the procedure of the clinic.
The eggs recovered are forwarded to the embryology laboratory for assessment as soon as they are collected.
The embryology experts will pick out the mature eggs that are suitable for freezing.
Not all collected eggs will be acceptable or ready to be frozen.
Mature eggs are quickly frozen using a procedure called vitrification.
The eggs are stored in a controlled laboratory setting for future use.
If you decide to use your frozen eggs, they are then carefully thawed in the embryology lab. The normal process would be:
Egg Thawing Fertilization Embryo Development Embryo Evaluation Embryo Transfer
After freezing and thawing, the outer layer of the egg may become more impenetrable to sperm penetration, hence fertilization is normally performed using ICSI, in which a single sperm is injected into the egg.
Once the embryo is created and on the appropriate track, it can then be transferred into the uterus within a planned IVF cycle.
Holds Unfertilized Eggs
Egg freezing is a method in which a woman can have her eggs frozen without them being fertilized at the moment they are retrieved.
Offers Greater Flexibility
It can give women more reproductive options if they are not ready to get pregnant now.
Stores Eggs as They Arrive
The eggs are not permitted to continue to mature while frozen. But the woman’s age and reproductive health at the time of a future pregnancy are still considerations.
May Help with Medical Fertility Preservation
Women who may be treated in a manner that could affect ovarian function may wish to try egg freezing before treatment when clinically acceptable.
No embryos will be created now.
When a woman is freezing her eggs, she doesn’t have to decide to create embryos because the eggs aren’t fertilized until later.
Egg quality tends to decline with age so freezing eggs at a younger age may have better outcomes. But there isn't a specific age that works for all women.
Frozen eggs can be kept for a long time under controlled cryopreservation conditions. The length of time specimens may be stored may depend upon applicable law, clinic policy, and consent requirements.
Egg freezing does not guaranty fertilization, embryo development, live delivery or pregnancy. But it does preserve reproductive potential.
In fact, after you freeze your eggs, you can try to get pregnant naturally at a later time. Frozen eggs are merely another method of fertility preservation.
Your journey towards parenthood can begin with a simple conversation. Schedule a consultation with Jeevan Jyoti IVF Centre to understand your fertility concerns and explore the treatment options available for you.
