What is egg freezing?

Elective egg freezing is a feasible treatment option to offer to a certain subgroup of patients, and this has only been possible since the advancement of the freezing technology which is known as the vitrification.

Elective egg freezing is a well-defined option which for patients who have been going through cancer treatments or who want to preserve the fertility before they start their cancer treatment. Egg freezing has been in place for a long time, but other indications of fertility preservation for a woman mainly for the social reasons have only been coming to the horizon for the last few years.

Women nowadays want to maintain their professional priorities and delay the family bearing the later age. We are all aware of the reduction the fertility with age, and so are our patients. So, elective egg freezing can be kind of fertility insurance for the professional woman who wants to consider this as an option while they can delay it for the next maybe ten years or so based on whenever they are considering this option.

The ideal candidate in such a situation to do a fertility freezing or the egg freezing would be somebody who is less than 30 or less than 35 so that they can freeze the eggs and still have a good chance of a healthy live born child at the end of it.

However, they also have to be mindful that there are many challenges with elective egg freezing, such as the reduced survival rates (around 85%). They would require ICSI when it comes to fertilising these eggs, and obviously, they will need further fertility drugs and treatments.

The other subgroup of patients who should consider electric egg freezing, in my opinion, is those who are diagnosed with medical conditions, or they have started on certain treatments where either the condition or the treatment itself may have a potential of compromising fertility.

If you are anxious and you only want to consider being a biological parent, then doing an elective egg freezing is a wise option to consider.

These are the two primary indications where patients should consider elective egg freezing. It is important to note that I would discourage patients who are more than 37 or 38 of age to consider elective egg freezing because the chances of pregnancy drop. Also, the incidence of the genetic abnormalities the babies can have the can with natural conception or from the treatment can continue to rise at that age.

Also, the incidence of the genetic abnormalities the babies can have the can with natural conception or from the treatment can continue to rise at that age.

In summary, it is an option to be considered by

• Women less than 30, ideally less than 35.
• On a discretionary basis for patients between 35 and 37 who are healthy and wish to be a biological parent at a later age, or
• Women diagnosed with medical conditions and commencing a treatment that may have the potential to affect their fertility later in life.

Would You Think Of Using Artificial Sperms for Fertility Treatment?

Artificial or In Vitro derived gametes are eggs and sperms that have been developed from other cells such as stem cells. Scientists now have many technologies to develop the stem cells or other cells into sperm or egg cell.

They have been able to produce artificial sperms, but they have not yet used these for fertilisation. The artificial gametes will give a chance to couples with poor chances of becoming biological parents. Scientists believe that producing artificial sperm will become a reality. The development of an artificial egg is going to take much longer than an artificial sperm. The possibility that we can engineer eggs to develop into sperms or the other way around currently is closer to fiction.

If this is possible, then it will give the same-sex couples a chance to have children who will be genetically related to the couple. Specialists believe that we may be able to use them not only for natural conception. But also for fertility treatments such as IVF or ICSI.All this appears very optimistic. But, there are still many challenges and safety concerns that need to be overcome before thinking of human use.

Who would use artificial sperms?

All this appears very optimistic. But, there are still many challenges and safety concerns that need to be overcome before thinking of human use.

As we know, one in seven couples will seek help for getting pregnant. A large proportion of these are due to male fertility causes. The most severe form of male infertility is azoospermia. Azoospermia is the absence of the sperms in the ejaculate. This can be either due to obstruction or in some it is non–obstructive azoospermia or NOA.

In nearly half of the cases with non-obstructive azoospermia, a Specialist might not be able to collect any sperms at surgical sperm recovery or SSR. This would leave them with no option of having a genetically related child. Couples who do not have any other option of becoming the biological parent will benefit from artificial sperms.

But it is also important to know what patients would think of such options. Is it something that will be a more acceptable option than the use of donor sperm?

Dutch fertility specialists conducted an interesting questionnaire survey. The purpose was to understand the patient’s attitude towards the use of artificial sperms. Over nine hundred couples with non-obstructive azoospermia between 2007 and 2012 received a questionnaire. Half of them responded to the survey. Nearly ninety percent would accept the use of artificial sperms for either the first or their last treatment.

• Couples who would consider for their first treatment would prefer to use in attempting natural conception using artificial sperms over SSR – ICSI or ICSI with artificial sperms.
• Otherwise, those who had a failed ICSI treatment using the surgically removed sperms at TESE, almost three in four of these couples will try ICSI with artificial sperms.

The main factors that influenced their choices were safety for the children. The other factors were the pregnancy rates. Somehow, they felt that their infertility was being cured. Obviously, the costs of the fertility treatment will be another factor that will influence their choice.

Reading about such study was interesting. Not because it seems to be at the edge of the current science. But more because it is the first time patient’s attitude to new scientific interventions has been investigated before its introduction.

At the moment we have to understand the human application, safety and overcome the current challenges. After that, Specialists can offer this treatment to patients. In the UK, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will continue to monitor the progress in this area.

Five important facts to consider when egg freezing

Many women consider delay having a family until later in their lives. Egg freezing gives women the option to preserve her fertility and become a biological parent in later life.

Age as an indicator for egg freezing

We know female fertility decreases with age. The decrease in quality and quantity of eggs carries on at a slower pace since birth. However, this decline gathers pace around the age of 35 years and further decreases rapidly in 40’s.

With age, an increasing proportion of eggs may have too few or too much genetic material (chromosomes) that leads to an abnormal embryo. This can reduce your chances of conceiving naturally or through fertility treatment. It also increases the risk of you experiencing a miscarriage.

These are five important facts women should consider before freezing their eggs: