FAQs about Egg Freezing
Who All Can Consider Egg Freezing?
If you are a woman and you want to preserve your fertility, then you must consider egg freezing. It is beneficial for:
- Women those who want to or are required to delay pregnancy for the purpose of pursuing educational, career, and/or personal goals
- Women those who have been diagnosed with cancer
- Women that cannot choose to store frozen embryos because of moral and/or religious reasons
When is the Best Time to Freeze Your Eggs?
All women in their prime reproductive often feel confident about the timeline they set for family building. If your partner is also agreeable to expanding the family and you are enjoying the best of health, you can become a mother rather quickly. Unfortunately, the path to pregnancy is not smooth for many women. Some women might even wonder as to how long they should wait prior to exploring the possibility of fertility preservation. The prime reproductive age starts at 20 years and goes up to the early 30s. This is the best time to opt for egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation).
How is Egg Freezing Done?
Egg freezing is done using either a slow-freeze or flash-freeze (vitrification) method. We at IVF Spring Fertility Center in Mumbai are experts in both slow-freeze and flash-freeze methods. Currently, we use the vitrification method.
What does Egg Freezing Involve?
For retrieving eggs, you are subjected to the same hormone-injection procedure as in the case of in-vitro fertilization. You can refer to IVF Cycle Details for more information. However, there is one difference. After retrieving the eggs, they are frozen for a long period of time. The eggs are thawed and fertilized. The embryos are then transferred to the uterus. The egg freezing cycle is completed in about three weeks and is same as the initial stages of the in-vitro fertilization procedure.
For What Period of Time can the Eggs be Kept Frozen?
At out Egg Freezing Center in Mumbai, we keep the eggs at -196 degrees Celsius. Our experience shows that it is possible to achieve pregnancies with embryos that have been frozen for several years. In one specific case, the embryo was frozen for 10 years. Scientific evidence proves the same. We are pretty confident that the quality of eggs does not deteriorate because of storage.
How Many Eggs are Stored to Achieve Pregnancy?
Preliminary data from the study conducted by us and others shows that an egg thaw rate of 75 percent and a fertilization rate of 75 percent can be expected if your age is 38 years or below. This means that 7 out of 10 frozen eggs survive the thaw and 5 or 6 are fertilized and become embryos. Typically, 3 to 4 embryos are transplanted in women who are 38 years or below. It is, therefore, recommended that you store 10 eggs prior to attempting a pregnancy. It is possible to harvest 10 to 20 eggs per cycle from most women below 38 years.
What Happens if You Are More Than 38 years Old?
Pregnancy success rate, when using frozen eggs, depends on your age at the time of freezing the eggs and not on the age when you decide to use them. As such, the possibility of a successful future pregnancy in women whose eggs have been harvested when they are above 38 is lower compared to eggs harvested at a younger age.
How Much does it Cost to Freeze eggs?
It is the same as that of routine IVF and includes all testing, monitoring, medication, and freezing costs. The egg freezing charge is levied for a calendar year. The charges for thawing the egg, fertilization, and transfer of the embryo are billed separately. These charges are payable prior to thawing the eggs. All the costs are set and guaranteed when starting the egg freezing cycle. Discount is offered for additional freezing cycles. You can contact our accounts depart for information on different payment plans.