Preserving Your Future Fertility

In 2012, The American Society for Reproductive Medicine stated that egg freezing is no longer considered an experimental procedure and is an acceptable treatment option. Cryopreservation of eggs, embryos and sperm allow patients to protect their future fertility.

As a society, we are waiting longer to start our family due to professional, social, or health reasons and many may not be ready to start the journey; they may want to defer having a child until the time is right for them.

The two most common reasons patients choose cryopreservation are: lifestyle choices and medical necessity.

Lifestyle

While many women are empowered to put off having a child until later in life, the natural age-related decline in female fertility begins in their 30’s and even more rapidly after the age of 35. Preserving is a viable option for women who have decided ahead of time that they want to delay starting a family.

Medical Necessity

Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, genetic conditions with a likelihood of ovarian failure, and some surgeries can put your reproductive health at risk. The American Cancer Society suggests healthcare providers advise their patients on the risk of infertility and the assisted reproductive strategies that are available.

Treatment Options

At Laurel Fertility Care, the vitrification technique is used to freeze sperm, eggs, and embryos. During the vitrification process, eggs are exposed to solutions to help survive freezing and are then plunged into liquid nitrogen at extremely low temperatures. Evidence strongly suggests that this is a more superior technique to the older methods and leads to improved survival and pregnancy rates.

Male patients can provide a sperm sample to be frozen or it can be retrieved through a surgical procedure (i.e., TESE). The cryopreserved sperm can be thawed and used for intrauterine insemination (IUI) or invitro fertilization (IVF) procedures without preventing future offspring.

What does egg freezing mean?

Egg freezing, or mature oocyte cryopreservation if you’re looking to expand your medical vocabulary, is a method in which eggs are harvested from the ovaries and frozen unfertilized and stored for later use. The practice seems more common now as technology has progressed, and as conversations about young women establishing themselves socially and professionally have become more mainstream. But what does egg freezing entail? And who is it for? Would it be a good fit for you? It could be. Let’s look at some basic information about egg freezing to see if we can find out the answers to some of these questions.

Why Should You Consider Freezing Your Eggs?

Conversations about young women freezing their eggs so they can start careers and establish themselves without worrying about having to have kids seem more common these days. And it’s true, some women want to focus on something other than staring a family during her prime childbearing years. Then she can come back a few years later and have high-quality eggs to use to have a baby.

Other common reasons women freeze their eggs include:

· Preserving eggs if you’re facing possibly harmful treatments for serious illness, such as future cancer treatments

· Genetic conditions that can cause ovarian failure

· Medical conditions that might require future surgical intervention resulting in the removal of ovaries

· Planning for a future surrogate situation if you won’t be able to carry a child because of the above reasons

· Because of personal preference or religion, some people may be uncomfortable with freezing fertilized eggs, or embryos, but are ok with freezing components like sperm and eggs for later use

Laurel Fertility Care offers a supportive and knowledgeable team to guide you when you are ready to pursue your dream of a family. To learn more about the preservation process, contact us today!

The decision to start a family is life-changing, full of anticipation and dreams. As the premier boutique clinic in the Bay Area, we are dedicated to helping your family grow, offering a personalized care approach full of hope!