Egg freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is a method used to save women’s ability to get pregnant in the future.
Eggs harvested from your ovaries are frozen unfertilized and stored for later use. A frozen egg can be thawed, combined with sperm in a lab and implanted in your uterus (in vitro fertilization).
You might consider egg freezing if:
- You have a condition or circumstance that can affect your fertility.
- You need treatment for cancer or another illness that can affect your ability to get pregnant.
- You’re undergoing in vitro fertilization.
- You wish to preserve younger eggs now for future use.
Process of egg freezing:
- Multiple ovulation induction-ovarian stimulation: lasts about 8-12 days. We try to obtain more than one egg (which a woman usually produces in her natural cycle).
- Egg removal: It is done in a specially designed area inside the surgery room, with intravenous analgesia of short duration (10-15 minutes), without loss of consciousness and of course without pain. After 30-60 minutes from the completion of ovulation, the woman is ready to leave the unit.
- Preparation of the eggs and selection of the suitable ones for freezing using the vitrification technique.
- Storage of the eggs, for as long as the interested party wishes. It should be noted here that the freezing time is not correlated with the quality of the eggs, once they are thawed.
