Thinking About Freezing Your Eggs? Here’s What You Should Know.

Are you seriously thinking about freezing your eggs?

No doubt, you have to do a fair amount of research before you begin the process. There is a ton of information available online. However, the quantum of information can sometimes be quite overwhelming to absorb. It can be difficult to get your head around it.

So, let’s start with the basics first.

What is Egg Freezing?

According to UCLA Health, egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation is nothing but a fertility preservation technique. It is a process in which a woman’s eggs (oocytes) are extracted, frozen and stored as a method to preserve reproductive potential in women of reproductive age.

These same eggs, in future, may be utilised during  assisted reproductive techniques (ART) such as IVF.

What Are the Things That You Should Consider Before Egg Freezing?

Now that we are clear on what is egg freezing and what it can be used for, it is important that you are aware of these 6 key points.

Let’s dive in.

1. Egg Freezing Is Not an Insurance Policy for Having a Baby:

There is a common misconception that freezing your eggs guarantees pregnancy. It is equivalent to having fertility forever. Nothing could be further away from the truth.

The chances of conception from frozen eggs depend on a number of factors. It requires both quality  with quantity. Moreover, during the process of fertilisation, the number of eggs that survive the process depends a lot on the age at which you chose to freeze your eggs.

If you had opted to freeze early on, chances are that you will have more healthy and viable eggs as opposed to those who chose this option at a more mature age. This is because fertility changes with age.

This is not really a ‘for’ or ‘against’ argument for freezing your eggs because it is a decision that must be taken in consultation with your fertility specialist. However, the important thing to note here is that freezing eggs is not a matter of freezing and forgetting either.

2. There Are Better Ages for Freezing Your Eggs:

Medical science does not limit the freezing of eggs to any specific age. You can choose to freeze your eggs until the time that you keep releasing them during your monthly ovulation cycle.

Having said that, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) says that the optimal time to do it is in your 20s and early 30s. This is the recommended age range because women are said to have a greater ovarian reserve or the number of eggs in the ovaries are higher and healthier compared to over or below the age bracket.

Before freezing your eggs, you can always check with your fertility team to have your fertility hormones tested. This will tell you the condition of your ovarian reserve. The test outcome in addition to the inputs from your doctor can help you reach a decision if egg freezing is the right option for you.

3. The Process of Egg Retrieval Can Be Pretty Intense:

The entire process of freezing your eggs is quite intense. To begin with, you will have your blood work taken that will help the fertility team assess the ovarian reserve. They will also use this to screen your system for any other diseases.

An ultrasound may be required to check the overall ovarian function. You may be prescribed to take synthetic hormones. This will help to stimulate your ovaries to grow a cohort of follicles and at the same time minimise the risk of ovulating prior the egg retrieval.

When the team determines that your follicles are ready for egg harvesting, you will be given an injectable human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG. This facilitates egg maturation.

The actual process of egg retrieval takes place at the fertility clinic along with a transvaginal ultrasound aspiration. You will be anesthetized for this procedure. The fertility specialist will then insert a long, hollow needle via the vagina and reach the ovaries. Suction will be applied to remove the eggs, one at a time.

It is best to remove a batch of eggs during the procedure as it gives you the best chance of gaining a healthy egg that can be fertilised later on. All the harvested eggs are flash frozen in liquid nitrogen as it enhances the survival rate of the eggs dramatically. This process is called vitrification.

4. Be Prepared for Side Effects:

The process of having your eggs frozen may lead you to experience some side effects. These after effects are totally normal.

Most women commonly experience some form of cramping and pain post the egg harvesting process. You may also experience some level of mood swings as a result of the hormones.

It is best to schedule some time off for a few days after you have undergone the egg retrieval procedure. You should be fine to return to normal activities within a week’s time.

That said, be on the lookout for symptoms like weight gain and bloating which could be indicative of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

5. Freezing Your Eggs Can Be a Good Option If You Have Certain Health Issues:

You may consider freezing your eggs in your current stage of fertility if you have been diagnosed with specific health conditions, for example, cancer. Treatment for cancer may involve radiation or chemotherapy or both which may adversely impact your fertility. Other types of health conditions may require you to have surgery which can lead to ovarian damage.

If you have a family history of early menopause, a chromosomal abnormality such as Turner’s Syndrome or a genetic mutation like BRCA may also make you a good candidate for freezing your eggs.

6. The Dilemma of Freezing Eggs or Embryos:

In order to answer this question, you have to understand the difference between the two. Eggs are basically unfertilised. Embryos, on the other hand, are eggs that have been fertilised with sperm.

When it comes to options, there are more avenues to explore with egg freezing. However, you may consider embryo freezing if you have a male partner and you want to achieve pregnancy through an embryo transfer in an IVF lab later on.

There is the possibility that you may end up with more embryos than you need. The same thing can happen with eggs. However, be mindful of the fact that not all will survive freezing, be it eggs or embryos. Therefore, it is best to consult with your fertility team to decide what to do with the extra eggs or embryos.

Get As Much Information as You Can From Your Fertility Specialist

Making decisions on egg freezing is not a journey that you should be taking alone. Along with your partner, get as much information as you can from your fertility consultant.

If you are looking for an IVF clinic in Hyderabad, be sure to take a look at MotherToBe, a well-known fertility centre that is headed by Lead Clinician Dr Vyjayanthi. As Director of the clinic and an experienced fertility specialist, she is one of the very few in India to have earned a sub-specialty accreditation in Reproductive Medicine & Surgery from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, UK.

With a long and positive reputation in this field, Dr Vyjayanthi and MotherToBe ensure that the experience of your IVF treatment is as worry-free as possible.
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