Egg Freezing

Egg freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is a method used to save women’s ability to get pregnant in the future.

Egg freezing is commonly performed for women who are not yet ready to have children but plan to have children in the future and wish to maintain their ability to conceive.

It is also performed for women who have been diagnosed with cancer and need to go undergo radiotherapy treatment.

Radiotherapy can deplete the number of eggs, therefore freezing eggs before undergoing treatment can preserve the ability to conceive in the future.

Unlike with fertilized egg freezing (embryo cryopreservation), egg freezing doesn’t require sperm because the eggs aren’t fertilized before they’re frozen.

Duration of treatment Egg freezing

2 weeks
As the process around ovary stimulation can take several weeks, it is best to discuss the logistical practicalities with your physician.

Related Paraclinics Egg freezing

Before the procedure, it is necessary for the patient to perform various tests; the surgeon and the clinic team will inform the patient about the required tests.

Preoperative care, operation process, and postoperative care Egg freezing

Preoperative care

You’ll take synthetic hormones to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs rather than the single egg that typically develops monthly.

During treatment, your doctor will monitor you. You’ll have blood tests to measure your response to ovarian-stimulation medications. Estrogen levels typically increase as follicles develop, and progesterone levels remain low until after ovulation.

Follow-up visits will also include having a vaginal ultrasound — a procedure that uses sound waves to create an image of the inside of your ovaries — to monitor the development of fluid-filled sacs where eggs mature (follicles).

When the follicles are ready for egg retrieval (generally after 10 to 14 days) injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (Pregnyl, Ovidrel) or another medication can help the eggs mature.

Operation process

The patient is sedated before the procedure begins.

A common approach is transvaginal ultrasound aspiration, during which an ultrasound probe is inserted into your vagina to identify the follicles.

A needle is then guided through the vagina and into a follicle.

A suction device connected to the needle is used to remove the egg from the follicle. Once extracted, the eggs are slowly frozen down to -196°C where they are stored in an anti-freeze solution to prevent the corruption of genetic material.

Postoperative care

Patients undergoing hormone therapy are likely to:

encounter swollen and sensitive breasts and emotional sensitivity.
After egg retrieval, you might have:

cramping. Feelings of fullness or pressure might continue for weeks because your ovaries remain enlarged.
Typically, you can resume normal activities within a week of egg retrieval.

Contact your health care provider if you have:

• A fever higher than 101.5 F (38.6 C)
• Severe abdominal pain
• Weight gain of more than 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms) in 24 hours
• Heavy vaginal bleeding — filling more than two pads an hour
• Difficulty urinating

Surgical tips

Progress in egg freezing technology has seen an improvement to successfully thawing frozen eggs with the genetic material intact. However, the success conceiving from frozen eggs depends on a number of other factors, similar to those for traditional IVF.

Not recommended for

Women over the age of 35.

Potential risks

• The eggs may not survive or be viable after they thaw

Egg freezing is recommended for

• Women who are not yet ready to have children, but plan to have children in the future.
• Women who have been diagnosed with cancer and need to go undergo radiotherapy treatment.

Number of Days in Hospital

This surgery does not need hospitalization.