What can I expect during an egg freezing cycle?
The usual process involves fertility hormone injections (gonadotropin injections) for about 10 days to stimulate the development of several eggs (very similar to a typical
IVF cycle). The eggs are then removed from the ovary in our office. The procedure, takes about 10 - 15 minutes, and is performed using transvaginal ultrasound and mild intravenous sedation. Expect to go home about 30 - 60 minutes after the procedure. The eggs will be taken to the laboratory and frozen. After freezing, the eggs will be transferred to a long term storage facility where they will remain until they are needed.
Who is a candidate for egg freezing?
Cancer patients
There are 50,000 reproductive - aged women who are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them require surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments which may destroy their eggs and cause infertility. Egg freezing before beginning cancer treatment can help them preserve their fertility. Often, the cancer specialist will want to begin treatment immediately, and in such cases, immature eggs can be retrieved within a day or two and frozen in a similar fashion. The immature eggs can be thawed when the woman is ready for pregnancy, and undergo a maturing process in the laboratory (In Vivo Maturation or IVM) prior to fertilization with sperm.
Egg freezing is especially suited for young women with no male partner, who are uncomfortable with having their eggs fertilized with an unknown sperm donor for the purpose of creating frozen embryos.
For married or single women with a partner, conventional
IVF and embryo freezing, which has been successfully utilized for many years, is a simpler alternative to egg freezing.
Women who want to postpone having children
Egg freezing for young women, when their egg quality is excellent, help them to achieve pregnancy when they are older and may have difficulty conceiving, can not be currently recommended. The process
of stimulating the ovaries to obtain a large number of eggs (greater than 10 eggs), can be associated with potential serious complications
and should not be used to circumvent the biological clock or for “just in case” scenarios.
You should be aware that there are few reports of pregnancies from women over the age of 38 who have undergone egg freezing. For
example, if you are 40, unmarried , with no immediate prospect for a mate, egg freezing, for later use, is not appropriate for you.
Moral or religious objections to freezing embryos
Some patients may have religious or moral objections to freezing excess embryos during
IVF. Other women who deliver after IVF face the dilemma of what to do with the frozen embryos if they are no longer needed. In such cases, fertilizing only 2 eggs and freezing the remaining unfertilized eggs for later use, if necessary, may circumvent the moral dilemma of banking frozen embryos.
What is the cost of egg freezing?
Freezing eggs cost about $12,000; the cost of thawing and fertilizing the eggs is about $5000
How successful is egg freezing?
Egg freezing is a relatively new procedure. Worldwide, there have been several hundred births reported to date utilizing frozen eggs.
The rate of birth defects or chromosomal abnormalities appears to be comparable to that of the general population. It is estimated that
70% of eggs will survive the freezing process and that about 40% of the eggs will be fertilized when thawed. The pregnancy rate in some
studies approaches 50%. While frozen sperm or embryos can survive for many years, the long term survival of frozen eggs is still
unknown. |