What to Expect From Your Egg Freezing Journey

There are a lot of reasons why women decide to freeze their eggs and safeguard their chances of getting pregnant in the future. There are several steps involved in the process of egg freezing (or oocyte cryopreservation) which is one of the best methods for fertility preservation. This method is very helpful to increase the chances of a woman getting pregnant as she ages.

In this article, we will talk about what to expect from your egg freezing journey. If you desire children and are worried about your chances of conceiving in the future, you may find some peace by freezing your eggs. Let us talk about egg freezing and how things work during this procedure.

Egg Freezing Success Rate by Age

Egg freezing helps women with egg preservation when they are healthy and young so they do not need to get concerned about their ovarian reserve when they want to conceive. Age plays an important role in the success of egg freezing because a woman’s ovarian reserve is best at young age, that is a woman is highly fertile in her 20s and early 30s.

Estimated Live Birth Rate (eLBR) is termed as the chances of conceiving from frozen eggs using IVF in the future. The success rate of egg freezing also depends on your overall health and the quality of the egg freezing procedure. The following table shows the egg freezing success rate by age:

Using Frozen Eggs to Get Pregnant

How long can your eggs be frozen? There is no specific limit to it. Although the longest successful thaw came after 14 years, many women conceived through frozen eggs of over 5-10 years. The process of using frozen eggs for pregnancy is similar to IVF. The eggs are thawed in a laboratory environment where they are combined with sperm.

These eggs are developed for 3-6 days. The eggs that get fertilized and develop into embryos are transferred back into the woman’s body.

Female Egg Freezing Cost

There are two different ways you can freeze your eggs. The first method includes retrieval of eggs and freezing which works similar to IVF and the cost of this egg freezing method ranges from INR 50,000 to 100,000.

Another method of egg freezing includes a yearly cost to retain the eggs in a frozen state and it costs between INR 15,000 – 30,000.

Egg Freezing Process

A needle is inserted by the doctor into the ovarian follicles via the vagina for egg retrieval after they ripen. Ultrasound technology is used to guide the procedure. An abdominal surgery might be performed if the eggs are not visible during ultrasound imaging. The egg freezing process takes place quickly after egg retrieval.

         Oocyte / Egg Freezing Process – Esha IVF

The frozen eggs are then kept in tanks in a designated egg freezing storage room. These rooms are highly secured where only authorized personnel are allowed. The entire procedure of egg freezing is highly delicate hence, it should be done by medical professionals with proper expertise.

Side Effects of Egg Freezing and Weight Gain

Most women do not experience side effects of egg freezing and there are only minor side effects associated with it. During egg freezing, most of the medicines are given by injection and the injection site could become slightly red or sore. Even the egg retrieval process is done easily where a super-thin needle is inserted into the ovaries through the vaginal wall and doctors call this procedure minimally invasive.

There is a rare chance of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome or OHSS that results in swollen or enlarged ovaries and a slight weight gain. There is a very small chance of having these side effects during egg freezing. Though there is no significant evidence of long-term health issues after egg freezing, it is important to take the right precautions during the procedures from the patient and doctor’s end.

Conclusion: 

Egg freezing is becoming highly popular among women who want to postpone their pregnancy while preserving their chance of conception in later life. There is a limited supply of eggs for women. Hence, egg/oocyte freezing is a good way to keep the eggs safe and then use them later to get pregnant.

If you want to protect your fertility you can go through the egg freezing process. The most common reasons for egg freezing are lifestyle choices and medical necessities such as ovarian tumors/surgeries. We hope that this article helped you to get a better understanding of what to expect from your egg freezing journey. You can make the best use of this knowledge.

We wish you good luck in your future and hope that everything goes extremely well in your life and career.