With the development of science, there have been numerous treatments available to significantly improve the chances of conceiving a baby. These treatments include fertility drugs, hormonal drugs, or surgeries including in vitro fertilization (IVF). Adding up to another different methods that can improve the fertility rate in women is a method called egg freezing. In modern times, when there’s much awareness about the procedure, many women opt for freezing their eggs between the ages of 20-30 to increase their biological cycle for a variety of reasons, be it career or emotional stability. Here’s everything that you need to know about egg freezing.
Understanding Clinical Egg Freezing
Cryopreservation of eggs, scientifically called oocyte freezing, is a method for preserving fertility. “As the name suggests, the eggs are frozen after they are retrieved from the ovaries. One’s reproductive or pregnancy options are extended by freezing eggs. This process has developed over the years and is an excellent advancement in reproductive medicine research,” says Dr. Souren Bhattacharjee, Consultant, Birla Fertility & IVF.
There are many people who consider and undergo egg freezing for a lot of different reasons. This process is opted by individuals for a variety of reasons including medical and health circumstances, and prioritizing things other than parenthood in life at the time being. The eggs that are frozen are good for use and are not compromised in quality for up to 10 years after the freezing process is done.
Dr. Bhattacharjee explains why a woman might consider the method of egg freezing in the following cases:
- If a woman is detected with cancer and has to undergo cancer treatment. This is because some cancer treatments, which include chemotherapy or radiotherapy, may affect a woman’s fertility. Hence, egg freezing procedure done before the cancer treatment helps the woman to bear biological children later in the future.
- If the woman is undergoing an in vitro fertilization method and by any chance, if the male partner does not produce the appropriate amount of sperm on the day the woman retrieves the eggs, then the best option is egg freezing.
Understanding Social Egg Freezing
Social egg freezing refers to the method of preserving a women’s fertility or eggs not for medical reasons but for social considerations such as pursuing a career goal or waiting to find the right life partner, or economic and emotional stability before starting a family. The eggs can be retrieved at a later stage and are used to induce pregnancy, offering the woman to have a biological baby of her own at a time of her choice.
Since age is an important factor for having a healthy baby, those considering social egg freezing must visit an IVF clinic to have themselves completely evaluated for the procedure and check if they are eligible to postpone their pregnancy. The process of pre- investigations includes simple blood tests, ultrasound scans, and counselling.
There are several myths surrounding fertility that need to be dispelled. “There is a misconception that babies born from frozen eggs are unhealthy – this is not true. According to another myth, freezing eggs damages the quality or even damages them in some cases. Myths like this do not have any medical basis. The process of freezing your eggs does not require a partner or marriage,” adds Dr. Bhattacharjee.
In addition, women believe that the success rates of social egg freezing will be the same at any age, despite the biological clock. The truth is that both the quality and quantity of a woman’s eggs decline with advancing age and, therefore, the procedure should be done at an early stage.
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