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Egg freezing allows women to preserve their fertility to have a baby in the future. Some intended parents preserve their eggs because they aren’t ready to have a child yet or want to focus on their careers. Egg freezing is also a suitable option for those with health issues that may impact future fertility or are planning on going through in vitro fertilization (IVF). No matter the reason for freezing your eggs, Indiana Fertility Institute is here to help you every step of the way.
At Indiana Fertility Institute, we welcome anyone who wants to become a parent on their own terms. Egg freezing allows you to preserve your fertility past its optimal window. Additional benefits of egg freezing include:
Egg freezing is a process that uses cryogenic technologies to preserve genetic materials for future use. Women are born with a set amount of eggs, which declines significantly by puberty. As women reach their mid-30s, their fertility declines at an even faster rate. Not only do they have fewer eggs, but the eggs that remain are also lower in quality.
The egg freezing process extracts multiple healthy eggs during a woman’s prime years and freezes them to retain their quality. These eggs are stored in liquid nitrogen at subzero temperatures until the patient is ready to use them.
Once you’re ready to use them, the eggs can be thawed out and fertilized through IVF. The resulting embryos can also be screened for genetic issues before being transferred into the uterus.
The egg freezing process typically involves four steps, but every person’s fertility treatment journey can look different. The vast majority of egg freezing cycles take about six weeks to complete. Generally, you can expect:
During your initial consultation at Indiana Fertility Institute, we’ll review the egg freezing process with you and answer any questions or concerns you have. Once you’ve decided to go through with egg freezing, your doctor will order tests to determine how many eggs they may be able to retrieve.
You’ll be prescribed fertility medications to stimulate your ovaries into developing more eggs for retrieval. These medications are typically self-administered in the form of injections. You’ll visit the clinic frequently so that one of our reproductive specialists can monitor your egg development.
Once your eggs have reached the desired size, you’ll receive what’s called a trigger shot, which is an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG). This signals to the ovaries that it’s time to release the mature eggs.
After the trigger shot, your ovaries will release the mature eggs. In most cases, you will be scheduled for your egg retrieval procedure about 36 hours after the shot. The procedure is minimally invasive and generally takes less than an hour. After a few days of rest, you should be able to return to your normal routine.
The egg freezing process takes place in a special lab dedicated to cryogenic procedures. An embryologist will select the most mature eggs for freezing, storing them until they’re ready to be used. Egg freezing does not guarantee that your eggs will be viable. However, the more eggs that are retrieved, the more likely it will be for you to have a healthy egg that results in a successful pregnancy.
Build your family on your own terms. Learn more about your fertility preservation options from the experts at Indiana Fertility Institute by scheduling an egg freezing consultation today.