An Expert Tells You All You Need To Know About Egg Freezing

Imagine a world wherein you are 35+, a self-made woman, career-driven and can still have a baby who had your younger genes dated back to when you were 25! Women nowadays have the option of storing their eggs and saving them like a fixed deposit which can be encashed later when they want to have children and start a family.

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Egg freezing or ovarian cryopreservation is a procedure that can be offered to women who want delay child-bearing and want to ensure that they can preserve their fertility even after their biological clock has run its course.

How Does Egg Freezing Help?
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As women age, the DNA of their eggs also gets older and undergoes age-related damage. Hence women over the age of 35 are at a higher risk of giving birth to genetically abnormal babies. Although there are several tests that can detect such abnormal pregnancies, this eventuality could be bypassed all together and women can use their frozen (more genetically stable) eggs at a later date and can get pregnant when they’re financially and emotionally prepared for the same.

What Does The Process Entail?
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Egg freezing or cryopreservation can be done for women in their 20s and early 30s and it involves taking hormonal injections for around 14 days from the start of a menstrual cycle. The dosage of the injections is decided by a qualified fertility expert and involves blood tests and ultrasounds to determine the egg reserve of the patient. The injections administered will be synthetic hormones that stimulate the growth of eggs which are retrieved by an outpatient procedure done around the 14th day (oocyte retrieval) at a fertility clinic. The eggs that are retrieved are flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and then can be used at a later date whenever the patient wants to conceive.

Are There Any Side Effects Of The Process?
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Every procedure may have side effects and the most dreaded complication of egg freezing is ovarian hyperstimulation, which is a reaction to the synthetic hormones given for egg maturation. Minor complications are pain, bleeding and cramps due to retrieval and also mood swings due to the hormones.

Financial Bearing
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Apart from your doctor’s consultation, there will be charges for the procedure, including injections and oocyte retrieval charges. There is also an annual renewal cost for storage of the eggs, which can prove to be a financial burden for some patients. Often, these charges can be worked out as a package deal.

Busting Myths
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Myth 1: “Egg freezing gives me 100 % chance of getting pregnant later”
Fact: Human oocytes sometimes may not survive freezing and 20% eggs may perish after being thawed. Only 40-60% of the frozen oocytes get fertilised by the sperm.

Myth 2: “I will have a smooth sailing pregnancy after egg freezing as my child will be normal”
Fact: Genetic mutations can arise from frozen eggs in 10 % cases, and the patient may have to weigh in the risk of increased maternal age and the detrimental effect of advanced age (blood pressure, diabetes) on pregnancy.

Myth 3: “Egg freezing can be done at any age”
Fact: Unfortunately, many centres have capping limits for egg freezing (up to 38 years in most). However, if freezing is done for women who have cancer and will need radiation then there may be no capping limit.

Personal two bits: So, what’s the verdict on this procedure? My say is, something is better than nothing and it’s better to have a back-up plan when women don’t want to be forced into marriages just because their biological clock is ticking.

Also read: Let’s Talk Fertility: Busting Myths On Assisted Reproductive Technology