Egg Freezing in Houston, Texas
HOW DOES EGG FREEZING & EGG RETRIEVAL WORK?
If you are looking for ways to preserve your future ability to become pregnant, and stop your biological clock, egg freezing (Oocyte cryopreservation or vitrification) may be for you. Egg freezing is one of three forms of fertility treatment called Fertility preservation. Fertility preservation is the process of delaying conception that can be done with frozen eggs, sperm or embryos and is performed at our fertility clinic, Inovi Fertility & Genetics Institute.
In the cryopreservation process, your eggs are retrieved and then cooled to sub-zero temperatures to stop all biological activity, making them viable for your use in the future. Cryopreservation occurs with a process known as “vitrification”. This procedure involves the use of high concentrations of cryoprotectants to achieve the best protection of your unfertilized eggs for rapid cooling in liquid nitrogen. Vitrification allows for the cell to be preserved into a glass-like state. In slow or traditional egg freezing, ice crystals form in the egg which used to lower success rates so this method is no longer used.
WHY FREEZE MY EGGS?
You may consider egg freezing if you find yourself in one of these circumstances:
- Desire to save your eggs for future pregnancy or IVF treatment for social or career reasons called elective egg freezing
- Experiencing a chronic medical conditions which may damage your eggs or ovaries such as endometriosis, possibly interfering with future pregnancy
- Delaying pregnancy for medical reasons such as taking a medication that may be currently unsafe for pregnancy
- Undergoing cancer treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy which damages egg supply
- At risk for early menopause, either by family history or low ovarian reserve testing as determined by blood tests (low AMH or high FSH) or ultrasound (low antral follicle count)
- Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and prefer egg freezing to embryo freezing for religious or ethical reasons
ARE MY CHANCES OF A NORMAL PREGNANCY THE SAME AS WITH FRESH EGGS?
Good evidence exists that In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and ICSI after egg freezing (vitrification) and egg thawing has similar pregnancy rates or success rates compared to fresh egg (immediate) fertilization. Additionally there has been no evidence to date that this vitrification process increases the risks of chromosomal abnormalities, birth defects or developmental problems for your baby. Success rates, just as in IVF, are dependent on the age of the female partner at the time the egg freezing process takes place. The average age of women undergoing egg freezing is 37 years of age. However, success rates are higher when patients undergo egg freezing at age 35 or younger.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU NOW HAVE OPTIONS!
If you choose to consider this path, your egg freezing is performed in “cycles,” each taking around 2 weeks from the day of ovarian stimulation until egg retrieval.