Why Egg Freezing is Gaining Popularity

Egg freezing is going mainstream.

Egg freezing or oocyte cryopreservation is a medical procedure. This procedure helps to preserve a woman’s ability to get pregnant in the future. With this revolutionary technique, women can defer motherhood and still conceive a child when they think the timing is right with their good-quality eggs. An increasingly large number of women are storing their eggs for later use and taking control of their reproductive timelines. As we (Fertility Clinics in Orange County) know egg freezing remained the more cost-effective option for women up until age 38.

Why do a lot of women prefer it?

Egg freezing is increasing in popularity, and the primary reason why is because it works. A lot of studies have found that the probability of a woman conceiving via IVF (in vitro fertilization) is same. It does not matter whether is new or frozen eggs. These results have shown that women now have more control and flexibility over their reproduction decisions and careers.

IVF and Egg Freezing

Egg freezing and IVF have a lot in common. As a matter of fact, the only difference between the two is the timing of pregnancy. In both cases, a woman administers fertility medications to improve egg production in her body and then has the eggs harvested. In an IVF procedure, these fresh eggs are instantly fertilized with sperm. The resulting embryos are then transferred into the womb of the recipient so that pregnancy can start immediately. However, when it comes to freezing eggs, eggs are collected from a woman’s body and stored to be used later.

As with in vitro fertilization (IVF), freezing eggs takes a great deal of time and effort. The freezing and retrieval process takes around 4 to 5 weeks. The cost of freezing your eggs includes the cost to thaw, fertilize, and implant the eggs several years later, as well. Thus, the entire process can anywhere around $15,000 or even more.

Despite the cost of egg freezing, which increases it’s popularity more and more. This a reason women are still opting for this fertility treatment. The reason behind this is that the quality of a woman’s eggs decreases as she gets older. Women that want to have children at a later point in life are also motivating themselves to freeze their eggs. While they are still in excellent condition to preserve their ability to conceive. For many women, egg freezing serves a safety net for when they will be prepare to get pregnant and embrace motherhood later on.

Why do experts recommend it?

Men generate new sperm cells throughout their lifetime. On the contrary, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have. Women lose several eggs during each menstrual period, and with time, the remaining eggs also reduce in quality and are more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities. For instance, at age 30, 50 percent of a woman’s eggs are chromosomally normal, but by the time she turns 44, this proportion falls to 2 percent. Thus, experts strongly recommend that women interested in freezing eggs should do so before they turn 38.

The history that creates egg freezing popularity

This history of egg freezing stretches back to the ‘80s. Scientists originally developed the procedure to preserve the eggs of women with cancer, before they lose their fertility to chemotherapy. The American Society for reproductive health, in October 2012, declared that egg freezing could no longer be considered “experimental.” Since then, our fertility center has worked with a large number of patients, many of them opting to freeze their eggs.

Some high-tech companies, such as Facebook and Apple, also played a part in the recent buzz about egg freezing by declaring to help fund the procedure for interested female employees. Health insurance companies cover infertility treatment but the high cost of elective egg freezing is cover by just a few. This initiative by the big companies also increases Egg Freezing Popularity.

The egg freezing process involves several clinic visits, days of fertility medications, discomfort, and emotional stress that comes with fertility treatments. But once it is done, a woman can have the frozen eggs as an assurance to get pregnant years later when she’s ready. There is one unfortunate uncertainty about egg freezing, and it is, there’s no guarantee that these women are going to conceive in the future. Thankfully, this is a very rare occurrence, rarer than you might think. As reproductive technologies advance, the success rates of becoming pregnant are increasing.

What is the Egg Freezing Process?

If you’re considering egg freezing, you should be well-acquainted with the process. Here is what you can expect:

Initial Consultation

• The first step to freezing your eggs is visiting an IVF agency or clinic for a consultation.
• Get to know the physicians and nurses at the clinic and talk to them about potential fertility plans, drugs, and a financial strategy.

Cycle Evaluation

• Based on what stage of the menstrual cycle you’re on, you might have to wait up to 3 weeks before you can start taking fertility medications.
• If you’ve been taking birth control pills for more than five years, you’ll need to stop taking them a few months before you start the egg freezing process. It’s also a good idea to take oral contraceptives (birth control pills) to lower egg production, a week or so before the start of fertility shots.

Ovarian Stimulation

• This phase lasts 10-14 days.
• You will need to take 1 to 3 hormonal injections every day to stimulate the production of good-quality eggs in your body.
• An average of six doctors’ visits is nesessery to monitor your progress via ultrasounds and blood tests.
• Possible side effects of the ovarian stimulation process include cramps, headaches, weight gain, and pain at the injection site. These side effects are quite similar to that of a typical menstrual cycle.

Trigger Shot

• This refers to the last hormone shot that triggers the eggs (follicles) to become mature and ready for collection.
• The trigger shot is usually given 36 hours before egg retrieval.

Egg Retrieval

• This procedure is very short and takes around 20 minutes to complete. In this phase, your doctor will recommend that you rest at least 1 hour for recovery.
• You will be under mild sedation during the egg retrieval. As the doctor carries out the procedure, he or she will use a transvaginal ultrasound for guidance.
• Common side effects that you may experience are fatigue, bloating, and cramping.
• Typically, 12 to 20 eggs can extract/retrieve in an egg retrieval cycle.

Freezing

• Fertility experts evaluate the retrieved eggs before proceeding to the next stage.
• Vitrification occurs, when the liquid will extract from the viable eggs.
• Eggs are loaded in cryogenic vials and then put into liquid nitrogen (liquid N2) to freeze them immediately.

If you would like, we ( Fertility Clinics Orange County ) can provide assistance in making the most informed decision for Egg freezing. To know more information on Egg Freezing or Egg freezing cost, please reach out to us (Fertility Clinics Orange County) at coastalfertility.com or call us at 949-726-0600.