Egg Freezing

What is Egg Freezing?

Egg freezing is the process that includes the extraction, freezing, and storing of women’s eggs for future use. This technique applies to postponing the pregnancy of the woman who is undergoing the treatment of cancer or having issues for social reasons. According to some studies, age-related germ cell deterioration is the reason behind most infertility problems. This technique enhances the potentiality of fertilization, survival of gamete, and the rate of live birth.

In the past five years, this provided women with greater autonomy. The reason for performing this process is to preserve the eggs for later and in the proper time, the doctor will transfer it to the uterus after fertilizing it.

Everything You Need to Know About Egg Freezing

Importance | Process | When Recommended | Preparation before Egg freezing process

What is the importance of Egg Freezing?

With the help of human oocyte cryopreservation, we preserve the eggs of the woman. The first baby was born from a frozen egg in the year 1986. In the last few years, the procedure of oocyte cryopreservation has improved a lot and the survival of the frozen eggs has increased. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine doesn’t consider this as an experiment. The uterus of elderly women remains functional, and it is just the eggs that require preservation.

Process of Egg Freezing

In the process of freezing eggs, first, the fertility specialist assesses the estimation of the potential yield of oocytes before the cycle of ovarian stimulation. The ultrasonography of the pelvis and blood tests are part of this assessment. It helps in determining the medication dose. Injecting the hormonal medications leads to controlled ovarian stimulation. This process is the same as in “In vitro fertilization.” The doctors assess the maturity of the eggs under the microscope and matured eggs are cryopreserved. Then, they choose ultra-rapid cooling into liquid nitrogen to store the eggs.

When is it recommended?

There are many reasons behind the cryopreservation of the oocytes. These are as follows:

1. This process applies to women who are suffering from cancer and need to go through chemotherapy and pelvic radiation. Radiation damages the ovaries, so this process can help.
2. Some surgeries cause damage to the ovaries. So, the people who have to undergo surgery, need to follow this process to preserve their eggs.
3. If there is a family history of premature ovarian failure, early menopause, chromosomal abnormalities, or risk of ovarian disease which can cause damage to the ovaries then doctors suggest undergoing oocyte or egg freezing.
4. Some people delay childbirth for social reasons like jobs and studies. This process is appropriate for them.
5. Genetic mutations that can lead to ovarian cancer later can be the reason behind removing the ovaries. For these people, egg freezing is recommended.

Preparation before Egg freezing process

There are some preparations before performing this procedure. These are as follows:

1. The doctor will perform some blood tests which will help to check the hormone levels, focus on the menstrual cycle and fertility.
2. We can get only one egg from the ovary of the woman, but fewer eggs lower the chance of getting pregnant hence more oocytes the better it is.
3. Doctors prescribe some hormonal treatments to increase the number of eggs. It stimulates the production of eggs in the ovaries. In this treatment, women have to inject hormones.
4. For one month, some women need to have birth control pills to suppress the natural cycle. It makes the hormones effective.

The treatments include- injecting follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or HMG( Human Menopausal Gonadotrophin) for 10 -12 days for controlled ovarian stimulation for production of more eggs., After that gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist is given to prevent the release of eggs and finally, the trigger shot is given with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for the final maturity of eggs.

The doctor will monitor the effect of the treatments by performing blood tests and transvaginal ultrasounds. He will take the assessment of the development of eggs by doing the ultrasound.

Best Age for Egg Freezing?

A woman’s fertility peaks from the mid-20s to early 30s. Her AMH which indicates ovarian reserve is highest at that age. So it is the best option to freeze the eggs at that age.

Duration for which you can freeze egg?

There is no negative effect of storing eggs for a long time. It is necessary to understand that pregnancy in older maternal age can increase the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cesarean section and other pregnancy complication.

Is egg freezing safe?

Yes, this process is safe, but there are some risks as well. The risk of this procedure is like ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome as for in vitro fertilization, where the ovaries enlarge and there is an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen and pelvis. It also includes egg retrieval procedure-related bleeding and infection.

Cost of Egg Freezing?

The cost of egg freezing is around 30 to 35K, but there is an additional cost if stimulation of ovaries by hormonal injections is done or oocyte retrieval is performed.

Conclusion

The success rate of the procedure depends on the woman’s age. The chance of birth using frozen eggs has a range which is 14.8 percent and 31.5 percent if the extraction of eggs belongs to the woman of 40 and 25, respectively.