Life is different for different people. You have to face challenges in your personal, social, or professional life. Due to circumstances like career growth, job responsibilities, and medical conditions such as cancer treatment, you want to delay your pregnancy. Your age is a barrier in this regard.
However, technical advancements in reproductive health have made it possible through egg freezing. And to freeze your eggs, you consult one of the best fertility or IVF doctors in India. Before you proceed with the process, you should educate yourself about it. Educating yourself will help you make a wise decision. Here are what you should know about it:
Egg freezing – what it is
Egg freezing is a technique or method that allows you to preserve your fertility by the cultivation and banking of your eggs for future use. Medical experts call egg freezing oocyte cryopreservation which facilitates women having babies later in their life. The first baby with a frozen egg was born in 1986. Since then, around 2000 babies came into this world through this technique.
Due to an increase in success rate caused by technical advancements, women in a large number are opting for egg freezing and deciding to be mothers later in their life. The number of fertility clinics/centers/hospitals offering egg freezing is rising with each passing day. However, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine states a lack of information to recommend this technique and advises moms-to-be to focus on the success rate of an individual clinic before moving for this.
Why should you freeze your eggs?
There are several reasons why women freeze their eggs. The main 3 reasons are as follows:
- Have more time – Due to family, career growth, etc., you want to delay your pregnancy and become a mom later in your life. Freezing your eggs and using them later helps you in this regard
- Fertility protection from a medical treatment – Radiation, and chemotherapy used to treat cancer can make you infertile. You can preserve your fertility by removing and banking some of your eggs. Later, you can use them to get pregnant through medical intervention
- Avoidance of discarding embryos during IVF treatment – Egg freezing allows you to freeze as many eggs you need to conceive through IVF for later usage
The best time to freeze your eggs
Egg freezing is better at a younger age. It is, as there is a decrease in your egg number with your age. Freezing later can make you have fertility declines and chromosomal abnormalities. Older eggs are the primary culprit for delayed pregnancy.
Egg freezing process
The process of egg freezing is similar to the initial process of the IVF treatment. Here is what happens during the egg freezing process:
- Use fertility drugs close to the beginning of your menstrual cycle period to stimulate your ovaries for more egg production at a time
- Doctor’s office or a clinic visit for a few days for the examination and monitoring of egg production and development
- Egg retrieval happens when your eggs are mature. The process takes only 30 minutes. In the process, anesthetic use, needle insertion through the vaginal for egg extraction, and ultrasound guidance take place
- Leave for your home after a one or two-hour clinic stay
How does egg freezing work?
After the retrieval, lab technicians store your eggs for an indefinite time. More egg freezing means you have more pregnancy chances. At the time when you get ready to conceive, experts thaw your eggs and combine the thawed egg with your partner’s or donor sperm to develop embryos. After embryo development, they transfer the same into your uterus.
Pregnancy success rate through frozen eggs or egg freezing success rate
There is a lack of enough data. However, the available data of a few studies state that one to two-thirds of fertility treatments with frozen eggs have a positive outcome, conception. However, you need to keep a few things in mind:
- Freezing eggs at a younger age is beneficial
- More egg freezing brings better results
- A woman with 2-6 frozen eggs has a 9-24% pregnancy chance
- The use of frozen eggs doesn’t result in birth defects Â
Egg freezing cost
The cost of egg freezing differs from one geographical area to another and one patient to another. It also differs from one fertility clinic to another. In the USA, you can have to pay something between $5 000 to $13 000. On the other hand, it can cost you around INR 50 000 to INR 1 00 000. It is better to consult a few clinics to get an estimated egg freezing cost.
Conclusion
Egg freezing is highly beneficial for females who want to delay their motherhood due to personal or professional reasons. Before you proceed, knowing about the process, a reason to choose it, the best time for egg freezing, success rate, and cost will be helpful to you.