Egg freezing or oocyte cryopreservation (in biological term) is a revolutionary technique of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) in which the eggs of a female from her child-bearing age are frozen in storage to be used at a later age. It is done to preserve and control the fertility of a woman because of several reason. One of them being she doesn’t want to be a mother right now.
Is egg freezing secure?
Usually egg freezing is safe and the first baby to be born from frozen egg was born in 1986. There aren’t any birth defects noticed so face in babies born from frozen eggs. And, the risks involved in frozen egg harvesting are same as that of IVF procedure like infection, bleeding etc.
At what age should you get your eggs frozen?
Well, the right age to freeze your eggs is during your late 20’s or early 30’s because you are healthiest and most fertile in these years. The success rate of conceiving later largely depends on the quality and quantity of the eggs harvested. It is basically the age when a woman chooses to delay her motherhood and considers to go for egg freezing
Why do women opt for egg freezing?
Women choose to freeze their eggs for several reasons, be it social or medical. Usually women with conditions need fertility impairing medications for egg freezing to preserve their chances of getting pregnant at a later stage. For example, a woman who is having her cancer treated or those suffering from ovarian disease can get their eggs frozen before commencing the treatment. In today’s time, healthy women who wish to start their family late are also choosing to freeze their eggs.
How long can the eggs be frozen?
Eggs are kept frozen at a low temperature of -190 degrees Celsius in liquid nitrogen, same like frozen embryos. However, storing eggs for larger time period doesn’t impact its quality. But, there isn’t any hard evidence to prove this. So, far the eggs have been stored for a time period of 4-5 years. The frozen eggs can easily be retrieved after a period of 5 years without any impact on its quality. However, doctors suggest to use the frozen eggs before a lady reaches 45 years of age to get successfully pregnancy results.
Preparation
Egg freezing is a decision which is well-decided. So, it is important to first consult a fertility specialist and find out if egg freezing is suggested for you or not depending on your future planning, medical history and age. Once the doctor advises you to go for egg freezing, then your fertility is monitored and hormones levels are checked. Ultrasounds and blood tests may be done. It is important to make sure that a good number of mature eggs are collected. Hence, it is advisable to follow a healthy lifestyle before going for egg freezing.
Process of Embryo Freezing
The process of embryo freezing and egg freezing is more or less same involving three phases: ovarian stimulation, evaluation of the follicles and retrieval of eggs. The first two stages are same as IVF where the patient is given hormone injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. A day before harvesting, the patient is given medicines to trigger ovulation. The mature eggs are then harvested via a process which takes about 30 minutes. The eggs recovered are frozen instantly.
What is egg freezing success rate?
The egg freezing success rate depends on a number of factors which comprise of number and quality of the eggs retrieved from the woman. The age of the lady when the eggs were collected as well as her age when she is planning her pregnancy and lastly the freezing technology used. Usually, large number of healthy eggs are harvested from woman between the age group of 25 to 34 have a higher chance of conceiving and having a healthy baby. However, you don’t still have much details on the egg freezing success rate yet.
Cost of egg freezing in India
As egg freezing is a new technology, it involves some hefty expenses. Basically, it comprises of two things: the cost of the process to retrieve the eggs and freezing it which is same as an IVF process and it varies between INR 50,000 to INR 1,00,000. Once the eggs have been frozen, the cost to keep them in the frozen state is a yearly expense and may fall somewhere between INR 15000 to INR 30000 annually. Hence the cost of egg freezing is the total of retrieval cost and yearly cost of storage.
Indira IVF Group 