Overview
Medically termed as oocyte cryopreservation, Egg freezing is the process of extracting eggs (oocytes) from a woman’s ovaries and preserving these eggs to become pregnant at a later stage of life. Thus, the procedure helps many women in delaying their pregnancy to achieve their career or life goals first, or to preserve their fertility before they go for necessary medical treatments like chemotherapy. Let’s get a complete understanding of its success rates, risks, procedure, and when to consider.
Table of Contents
Why Women Choose Egg Freezing
Several reasons may persuade someone to go through the Egg Freezing procedure. All of those reasons can be boiled down to two categories -
1. Medical Reasons for Freezing Eggs
Some medical treatments, like chemotherapy and pelvic radiation therapy for cancer treatment, may negatively affect the fertility of the patient. Thus, such women may use egg freezing to preserve their chance of having biological children at a later stage of life. It becomes a viable option to preserve fertility for women at an increased risk of premature ovarian failure, early menopause, or those affected by endometriosis.
2. Social or Lifestyle Reasons for Freezing Eggs
Social and personal reasons are a big factor in why many people delay pregnancy, and egg freezing becomes a valid option. These social factors may include prioritising your career goals or any other life goals; perhaps you have yet to find the right partner with whom you want to start your family.
Who Should Consider Egg Freezing?
Egg freezingisn’t just for women who want to put off pregnancy. It may also be suitable for women with low ovarian reserve, a family history of early menopause, or conditions that could affect future fertility. Women with autoimmune diseases or planning to have surgery on the ovaries can also discuss fertility preservation with their doctor.
Some women freeze their eggs before gender-affirming medical treatment that could impact fertility. This is a very personal decision and should always be made based on an individual fertility assessment, age, reproductive goals, and advice from a fertility specialist.
Egg Freezing Procedure Step by Step
Although egg freezing can feel like a tedious process to follow through with, as it involves several steps, it is still a lot simpler than it appears. Let’s look at the various steps of egg freezing:-
Step 1: Ovarian Stimulation
A woman first undergoes ovarian stimulation with medications to produce multiple eggs. Usually, ovaries only produce a single egg in each menstrual cycle, but with the right hormone medication, ovaries can produce many eggs in the same period. A higher number of eggs increases the chances of success with this procedure.
After careful observation and blood tests, a fertility specialist will determine the dosage and type of medications to be used. Usually, you have to use 2 or 3 hormonal injections on your stomach for 10 to 12 days as prescribed by the fertility specialist. While you go through ovarian stimulation, you will also have to go for frequent blood tests and an ultrasound to check the development of eggs and check if any abnormalities or complications occur.
Step 2 – Egg Retrieval Process
The actual egg retrieval process happens via a small surgery, while you are under mild anaesthesia. Usually, the whole operation takes 15 to 30 minutes, in which doctors insert a small needle into your ovaries to retrieve the eggs.
Step 3 – Freezing (Vitrification)
After the successful retrieval of eggs, they are frozen as soon as possible with a process called vitrification, a flash freezing technique. To prevent ice crystal formations, doctors inject special liquid into the eggs before freezing them. These eggs are stored in special preservation tanks filled with liquid nitrogen to maintain sub-zero temperatures. These eggs can be stored here for many years before they are thawed for the IVF treatment.
What Happens When You Want to Use Frozen Eggs?
When a woman decides to use her frozen eggs, they are carefully thawed in the laboratory. Surviving eggs are fertilised with sperm using IVF or ICSI, depending on the fertility assessment
The resulting embryos are monitored for development before one or more healthy embryos are transferred into the uterus. Any suitable remaining embryos may be frozen for future use.
The chances of pregnancy depend on factors such as the woman's age at the time of egg freezing and egg quality.
Success Rate and Effectiveness
The primary aim of egg freezing is to increase the chances of achieving biological motherhood. Thus, you may wonder how successful and effective the procedure is. Egg freezing is not a foolproof solution to preserve fertility as many factors can play a role in the success of IVF treatment with those frozen eggs.
Factors That Affect Egg Freezing Success
The success of egg freezing depends on several medical and personal factors. While modern vitrification techniques have improved survival rates after thawing, pregnancy cannot be guaranteed.
- Age at the time of egg freezing
- Number of mature eggs frozen
- Egg quality
- Overall ovarian reserve (AMH levels)
- Sperm quality during fertilisation
- Embryo quality after fertilisation
- Uterine health at the time of embryo transfer
- Underlying medical conditions affecting fertility
The success rate of achieving motherhood via frozen eggs ranges between 35% to 48%, depending on the age of the woman, number of eggs frozen, the quality of the eggs, and overall health of the woman. You may need to go through multiple IVF treatment cycles to achieve pregnancy.
Risks and Side Effects of Egg Freezing
Egg freezing is a relatively safe procedure with minimal risks. Although many women will experience some side effects, they are usually mild and caused by the hormone injections taken for ovarian stimulation. These side effects range from temporary bloating, headaches, and mood swings due to a temporary hormonal imbalance caused by the medications.
In extremely rare cases, conditions like ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) can occur, and to prevent this, doctors usually keep taking blood tests while you take medications for ovarian stimulation. Aside from that, going through this process can be emotionally demanding and financially challenging for many. Therefore, it is essential to be both physically and emotionally prepared.
When to Consider Egg Freezing
It is best to consider egg freezing at a younger age, ideally in the late 20s or early 30s, when the quality and quantity of eggs are near their peak. However, after the age of 35, the quality of eggs begins to decline, reducing the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Fertility doctors do blood tests to measure follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) to predict the quality of eggs.
Although younger age offers better egg quality, the egg freezing procedure may also be considered in several other situations where future fertility could be affected. Women may discuss egg freezing with their fertility specialist if they:
- Are planning chemotherapy or pelvic radiation for cancer treatment.
- Have severe endometriosis that may affect ovarian reserve.
- Are at risk of premature ovarian insufficiency or early menopause.
- Need ovarian surgery that could reduce egg reserve.
- Have a family history of early menopause.
- Wish to delay pregnancy for personal, educational, career, or relationship reasons.
- Are planning gender-affirming treatment that may affect fertility.
Early fertility counselling helps determine whether egg freezing is the right option based on age, ovarian reserve, and future family planning goals.
Cost of Egg Freezing
The egg freezing price varies depending on the fertility centre, medications, and the number of treatment cycles required. The total cost generally includes several components rather than a single procedure fee.
|
Expense |
What's Included |
|
Fertility consultation |
Initial assessment and treatment planning |
|
Blood tests & ultrasound |
AMH, hormone testing, and follicle monitoring |
|
Ovarian stimulation medicines |
Hormonal injections used before egg retrieval |
|
Egg retrieval procedure |
Day-care procedure performed under anaesthesia |
|
Laboratory charges |
Egg assessment and vitrification |
|
Egg storage charges |
Annual fee for cryostorage in liquid nitrogen |
|
Future IVF treatment |
Egg thawing, fertilisation, embryo culture, and embryo transfer when pregnancy is planned |
Since every woman's fertility needs are different, the overall egg freezing price can vary. Discussing the complete treatment plan with the fertility clinic helps estimate the expected cost.
Conclusion
Egg freezing allows women to preserve their fertility before age, medical conditions, or future treatments could impact their ability to have biological children. It doesn’t necessarily mean pregnancy, but it does give another reproductive choice down the road.
The decision should be made when benefits, limitations, expected outcomes, and costs are known. Women who see a fertility specialist early on can learn about their ovarian reserve and the best time to preserve their fertility.
Common Questions Asked
Is egg freezing safe for future use?
Yes. When performed in experienced fertility centres, modern vitrification is regarded as a safe and proven method of fertility preservation.
Why freeze eggs?
Egg freezing safeguards healthy eggs for the future so that women can plan their pregnancies past the age of reproduction.
Is it possible to get pregnant after egg freezing?
Yes. Frozen eggs can be thawed and fertilised using IVF or ICSI and transferred as embryos if pregnancy is desired.
Can eggs be frozen and still have a period?
Egg freezing does not prevent menstruation. The vast majority of women will return to regular menstruation within a couple of weeks of treatment.
What is the right age to freeze eggs?
Eggs frozen before 35 years of age tend to have the best results, although the results may differ for each egg.
What is the max freezing time for eggs?
When properly frozen and stored, it has been found that the quality of eggs is not adversely affected by storage for many years.
Does egg freezing always work?
No. In addition to enhancing future reproductive options, pregnancy is also influenced by a woman's age at the time of egg freezing, egg quality, embryo development and uterine health.g?