For those who wish to conceive but aren’t ready to have a baby, preserving your fertility by freezing your eggs allows you to postpone pregnancy. The quantity and quality of a woman’s eggs diminish with age, and while decline can start during the mid-twenties, it occurs more quickly around 35, often when careers, travel plans, and social lives are in full swing. Freezing removes eggs from young and healthy patients, preserving them for later use without damaging or jeopardizing the health of the eggs.
There are several reasons egg freezing may be an option. Those who haven’t found the right partner or who haven’t achieved their career goals can wait a little longer before deciding to build their family. For those facing cancer treatments, freezing your eggs keeps them from the effects of chemotherapy or aging.
Eggs Freezing makes it possible to plan your future without worrying about the decline of your fertility that comes with age. The safety and efficiency of the process typically yield high rewards, as eggs have a high probability of surviving the thaw for insemination.
During your initial consultation, your doctor will review your medical information to learn more about your fertility and overall health. Your ovarian reserve (another way of saying the number of eggs remaining in the ovary) will then be determined with a blood test that tests AMH levels and an ultrasound to visualize the ovaries.
During this visit, we will also let you know what to expect from the egg freezing process. This will include sharing information about related medications, scheduling, protocols, and answering any questions you may have.
When you ovulate naturally, only a single egg is produced. Hormone injections, which are taken for 8-12 days prior to your egg retrieval, will stimulate your ovaries so that multiple eggs develop during your cycle.
During this time, you’ll need to visit our office several times for ultrasound monitoring and blood tests in order to ensure that you are responding well to the medication.
Once your eggs have finished maturing, you will be scheduled for egg retrieval. The egg retrieval process is an outpatient procedure (performed under twilight anesthesia) and typically only takes between five to ten minutes. During the retrieval, your doctor will retrieve several eggs from your ovaries with the help of a transvaginal ultrasound.
Immediately after the retrieval, your eggs will be frozen.
The following two steps are only applicable if you are seeking egg freezing after a cancer diagnosis.
Unfortunately, many cancer treatments can impair fertility in both women and men. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other interventions can significantly damage ovarian function in women and decrease total motile sperm count in men, making fertility preservation critical for patients who may want to have a family in the future.
For patients dealing with an indication of cancer, speaking with a fertility doctor quickly and freezing eggs and sperm for future use is crucial. Usually, cancer patients can be seen within 24-48 hours by one of our fertility doctors, and their case is expedited so both an egg freezing cycle and subsequent cancer treatment can be completed in a timely manner.
If you are planning to undergo egg freezing for cancer treatment, it’s important to coordinate care with an oncologist as well as our treatment team. In some cases, cancer treatment may need to be prioritized over fertility preservation.