Fertility Preservation and Advancement in Egg Freezing
Over the last decade, egg freezing has become increasingly popular. There are a variety of reasons why women might pursue egg freezing. Some want to focus on their careers. Others need to have chemotherapy which can make them sterile. Still others want to have a back up plan in case they can’t get pregnant naturally later in life.
Regardless of the reason, if you are looking to freeze your eggs, then you are likely planning to wait several years before starting your family. For some women, waiting may seem like a scary risk. Many start worrying about whether or not they will be giving up their chance to have a healthy pregnancy with their own eggs if they wait for too long to get pregnant. If you are concerned that egg freezing may not be as effective as you hope, then it is helpful to know the success rates to see if the process is right for you!
Thanks to advances in fertility technology, egg freezing has come a long way in the past 20 years. With a newer technique called rapid freezing, most eggs will survive the freezing and thawing process. And once the eggs are frozen, they can be stored for years and theoretically indefinitely. Once you are ready to use your frozen eggs to get pregnant, your chances of a successful pregnancy can be very high. In fact, frozen eggs now have similar pregnancy rates to fresh eggs. Just like fresh eggs, women can expect the best results when freezing their eggs in their 20’s and early 30’s. This is because during this time they still have a strong ovarian reserve (or number of eggs that are stored in their ovaries) and their eggs are often much healthier than they will be as time goes on. In fact, 15-20 frozen eggs from a woman less than 35 years old can give you a 70-80% chance of having one child later in life. Also, the rate of miscarriage has also been shown to decrease when using frozen eggs that were collected when a patient was younger. Sometimes, when older women experience miscarriages in pregnancies, it can be due to the nature and health of their older eggs, but implanting eggs that were harvested during a time when a woman was younger or healthier increases the chances of a successful pregnancy when you reach an older age. Frozen eggs can also be tested for genetic conditions before being implanted to ensure that you have the highest chances for a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Reproductive Health and Wellness Center offers in-depth counseling and guidance to patients who are interested in this procedure or who are curious about the best way to start their family one day. Every woman is different and RHWC encourages you to meet with a fertility doctor and form a plan that is right for you and your needs. If you are interested in learning more about the egg freezing process, you can contact us at our office (949)-516-0606 in Orange County, near the Irvine Spectrum, to ask any questions or set up an appointment!
At Reproductive Health and Wellness Center, we are experts at treating fertility issues. We provide the latest in cutting-edge embryo science by using the latest technologies, and we create innovative fertility plans tailored specifically to each individual. But we’re so much more.
