Egg freezing. What age? How safe it is..

A woman’s eggs can be preserved for later use by a medical process called egg freezing, often referred to as oocyte cryopreservation. In order to create many eggs, the ovaries are stimulated using medication. The eggs are then extracted and preserved for fertilisation at a later time. Using Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), the eggs can be fertilised outside the body before being placed in the uterus to become pregnant. Early freezing improves the odds of successful fertilisation because eggs are at their best when they are younger.

With ongoing ultrasonographic monitoring to check development, the full treatment usually takes two to three weeks. Frozen eggs are an affordable option that gives women reproductive freedom because they can be kept for years before being used.

Research suggests that over 75% of women who suffer from disorders such as PCOD or PCOS are unable to conceive. One practical way to lessen future reproductive issues is to freeze eggs in advance. Because fertility decreases with age, resulting in fewer and lower-quality eggs, women between the ages of 35 and 40 are the most active participants in egg-freezing cycles. Although it’s typically not advised to freeze eggs after the age of forty, there are several circumstances in which it might be justified. The advantages of early preservation are further supported by the fact that pregnancy rates are generally lower when eggs are frozen after the age of 35.

There are several important steps in the egg-freezing process. It starts with an initial medical examination, during which physicians collect a thorough medical history, examine ovarian reserves using ultrasound scans, and check general health. Additionally, patients receive education regarding the surgery, including the guidelines for medication and ovarian stimulation. Follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormones are then injected into the ovaries for ten to twelve days in order to stimulate them. The best response is ensured by routine monitoring through blood tests and scans, and patients are recommended to refrain from strenuous exercise during this time. To get the eggs ready for retrieval, a last trigger injection is administered.

A needle is injected to harvest mature eggs during the anesthesia-assisted egg retrieval technique, which is guided by transvaginal ultrasound. After being recovered, the eggs are cryopreserved via vitrification, a process that guarantees their long-term preservation. Health care providers take the appropriate precautions to reduce discomfort, but some women may experience modest side effects like bloating, constipation, breast tenderness, cramps, or little bleeding.

Egg freezing has become a viable method of preserving fertility, especially for people who want to put off having children or who are dealing with health issues like PCOS. Women can increase their odds of future conception and protect their reproductive options by storing their eggs early in life.

(Dr. Sandhya Mishra, Consultant – Reproductive Medicine – Obstetrics and Gynecology, Milann Fertility Hospital, Bengaluru)