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:
- For women less than 35 years of age, the likelihood is approximately 6-7%
- From age 35-37 years, the likelihood declines to 4%
- From age 38-40 years, the chance further declines to 3%
- For women over the age of 40, women are only 1% likely to successfully have a baby per thawed egg
The 6-7% rate of a baby per thawed egg is similar to the baby per egg if fresh donor eggs have been used for the treatment. Therefore, it is best suited if you are less than 35. If you are over 38 years, you should consider other options.
Some women suffer from a medical condition where the disease or the treatment can negatively affect their fertility. In this situation, you may wish to delay having a family. You should consider discussing this with your fertility specialist.
If you would ever entertain the possibility of the use of donor eggs, this should be considered at an early age.
Once the eggs appear to be mature enough, you will undergo egg collection procedure. Egg collection is a minor surgical day procedure and is generally very safe. Once the eggs are collected, the cells surrounding the eggs are separated (stripped), and mature eggs are identified. These mature eggs are then flash frozen by a process called ‘Vitrification’.
When using the thawed eggs, the eggs can only be inseminated using the procedure called Intracytoplasmic sperm insemination (ICSI). Each sperm is then assessed for suitability before injecting into each viable egg.
- The ovarian reserve
- Response to the drugs
- Number of eggs retrieved
- Your thoughts on the number of treatment attempts you’re willing to go through
