What is Egg Freezing and Who Should Consider It?
Life never turns out the way you’ve imagined. Especially with having a family, there is one variable you cannot control: time. While some women are ready to conceive and have a child in their late 20s, many women’s priority is either to build a career, meet their soulmate, or are just not ready. And that’s absolutely fine. However, there is one fact that a lot of women don’t know: your fertility has a biological timetable. And it doesn’t wait.
This is where Egg Freezing comes into play. It is one of the newest technologies that are coming out that will give women their lives and future control over their lives.
What is Egg Freezing?
But what is the process of freezing eggs? It is basically when the eggs are extracted from a woman’s ovaries and frozen for the future. Frozen eggs remain fertile and can be stored for years. The woman then has her eggs defrosted, fertilized with a man’s sperm in a laboratory, and the resulting embryo transferred back into her womb.
The process can be compared to a savings account for your fertility. Just as people invest their earnings for the future, women have the ability to invest in their fertility by saving healthy, young eggs for later. The proper medical term is oocyte cryopreservation; egg freezing will be used here.
How Does the Egg Freezing Procedure Work?
The egg freezing procedure happens in a few simple steps. Do not worry — you are in safe hands with trained doctors throughout the process.
Step 1: Initial Consultation and Tests
The process will start with your first appointment. The doctor checks on your health and the health of your ovaries. He will then carry out simple ultrasound and blood tests. These tests show how many eggs the ovaries are likely to produce. This helps create an appropriate treatment for you.
Step 2: Ovarian Stimulation (About 10 to 14 Days)
Over the following 10-14 days, you will receive several hormone injections from your doctor. They will make your ovaries mature and release more than one egg. You will require several visits to the clinic during this stage, so that the eggs can be monitored by your doctor using an ultrasound.
Step 3: Egg Retrieval (A Quick 15 to 20 Minute Procedure)
When the eggs are ready, a minor procedure to retrieve the eggs is performed by your doctor. You are sedated gently so you feel no pain. The doctor then uses a fine needle, inserted under ultrasound guidance, to gently draw out the eggs from your ovaries. This procedure should last about 15-20 minutes, and you should be able to return home later that day.
Step 4: Freezing and Storage
Once collected, the eggs are evaluated, and viable eggs can be frozen using a specific vitrification technique(fast freezing), which helps keep them stored safely. Eggs are kept at a very low temperature inside a secure laboratory.
Step 5: When You Are Ready
Once you wish to have a child, your eggs will be thawed at the lab and fertilised using sperm, creating embryos. The best of these will then be placed in your uterus. The whole egg freezing process is designed to give you the best chance of getting pregnant when you decide to have a family.
Benefits of Egg Freezing
There are numerous advantages to egg freezing that extend beyond having an “insurance policy.”
- Hold your biological clock: Age and quality of the eggs also get held up at the time of egg freezing. So even if you get your eggs frozen at 30 and get implanted at the age of 40, the eggs will behave the way they used to behave at 30.
- Focus on career/higher studies: Most women desire to first concentrate on career/higher studies and have a child later on. By freezing the eggs, women get an option to do so.
- Find the right partner: ‘Right’ partner doesn’t always come at the ‘right’ time. The decision to freeze eggs will save you from this distress and give women time to find their partner and avoid concerns of losing fertility.
- Peace of Mind: Knowing there are healthy eggs ready for you, itself, can reduce an incredible amount of stress. It gives you a sense of control over your life.
- Medical reasons: If women have to undergo some treatments, like Chemotherapy (which can damage the ovaries), they can freeze their eggs first before the treatment and conserve the hope to bear a child later on.
Who Should Consider Egg Freezing?
Egg freezing is not just for one type of woman. Many different women can benefit from it.
- Women in their late 20s to early 30s: This is the optimal age because the quality of the eggs is still relatively high.
- Women who are not yet ready for a child: Whether a woman has yet to have the desired career or has the education she wishes for, egg freezing provides a chance at fertility later in life.
- Women without a stable partner: if a woman doesn’t have a stable, committed relationship, she could freeze her eggs to use as a backup. Should the time come that childbearing ages go up, the woman has an equal chance of having children regardless of her relationship status.
- Women with a familial history of early menopause: When women know that they are at a higher risk of early menopause due to a mother or grandmother having it, eggs can be frozen at an earlier age to secure future fertility.
- Women who have received diagnoses of medical conditions affecting egg supply: For conditions such as endometriosis, PCOS, and autoimmune diseases that damage the supply of eggs, an early decision for egg freezing can be the ideal solution.
Is Egg Freezing Safe?
Egg freezing is extremely safe, and countless healthy babies have been conceived from frozen eggs globally. Vitrification (flash freezing) of the eggs has an excellent survival rate, with over 90% of eggs surviving thawing. The side effects of taking hormones are negligible; you might experience slight bloating or mood swings from the injections, but otherwise nothing major. The process is carried out with the close monitoring of your doctor at all times.
Why Meher Hospital is the Best Choice for You
Thinking of egg freezing in Dehradun? Here at Meher Hospital, we believe that every woman’s experience is unique. Meher Hospital is your ultimate port of call with a group of fertility specialists who treat you with warmth, dignity, and absolute discretion.
Here is why Meher Hospital stands out:
When it comes to freezing eggs in Dehradun, Meher Hospital is a better choice. Fertility experts at Meher Hospital understand that each woman is different, and they are kind, respectful, and sensitive.
- Expert Doctors: All of our fertility doctors have years of experience with both egg freezing and IVF processes. You are in the care of some of the best physicians in the area.
- State-of-the-Art Lab Technology: We have some of the most cutting-edge equipment in egg freezing, as well as very up-to-date vitrification processes that allow our patients’ eggs to stay frozen and healthy for years to come.
- Individualized Treatment: Every woman is unique, and we provide the care to you that works for your body, your lifestyle, and your goals.
- Affordable Treatment: Caring for your fertility should not cost an enormous amount of money. We provide you with affordable prices and treatment that will work for you.
- Relaxed and Comfortable Atmosphere: From the time you enter our offices, our caring staff is able to make you comfortable. We answer your questions thoroughly and see you through the egg freezing and future IVF treatment with ease and care.
Final Takeaway
Having a better grasp of egg freezing, it can allow women to make informed decisions on their plans. Egg freezing is a procedure for prolonging the child-bearing age and increasing the flexibility of future family planning. In the focus of career development, treatment for diseases, or simply searching for alternative options, freezing eggs could be one significant option.
Meher Hospital has skilled fertility specialists, leading facility services, and empathy to provide excellent guidance, support, and care to make sure that our women are educated enough to make their reproductive choices and fertility preserved to ensure that if they have to postpone their plans, they don’t have to compromise with them.