Motherhood is conceived by many women of childbearing age as something desirable, but which should be postponed for other reasons, such as personal or professional development. The experts at Ginefiv explain what this process consists of and what it entails.
What is involved in delaying motherhood
The technique of egg vitrification makes it possible to delay a woman’s reproductive capacity. In this way, the loss of quality caused by the aging of the eggs can be avoided. However, the search for a first pregnancy tends to be delayed.
Why freeze eggs
Egg vitrification preserves the quality of the eggs, so their characteristics remain intact for as long as they are frozen. For many women, freezing eggs is an alternative, especially in these situations:
- Do not rush into the search for a family
- Not to assume the risk of not having children
- Follow-up of oncological treatment, since these treatments have negative effects on the ovary and, therefore, have repercussions on future fertility.
- Endometriosis, as it may require multiple surgeries.
At what age should eggs be frozen?
There is no age limit for freezing eggs, however, it is necessary to have a good ovarian reserve and sufficient oocyte quality for the treatment to offer guarantees. It is for this reason that the best results are obtained in younger patients. It is worth mentioning that the fact of freezing eggs does not reduce future fertility nor does it prevent gestation from being achieved in a natural way.
What does egg freezing consist of?
Egg freezing is a simple process that consists of three phases:
- Ovarian stimulation, with which multiple follicles are developed with a hormonal treatment administered subcutaneously. It lasts about 10 days, during which ultrasound checks are performed to verify the multifollicular growth of the ovary.
- Follicular puncture, which consists of the extraction of the oocytes in an ultrasound-guided manner and vaginally under sedation. The process takes about 5-10 minutes.
- After the oocytes are extracted in the operating room, they are transferred to the IVF laboratory, where the biologists proceed to freeze them.
Vitrification allows us to freeze at ultra-fast speeds with cryoprotective substances that prevent the low temperatures from damaging the cell.
The recovery of patients after follicular puncture is excellent, and one hour after the procedure they are discharged from the clinic. On that day, the patient is advised to take relative physical rest.
From vitrification to fertilization
When women decide to use the vitrified oocytes, they will be fertilized through IVF or microinjection with the partner’s sperm or donor sperm. In this way, embryos will be generated and transferred to the patient (who will have undergone a previous endometrial preparation to favor embryo implantation).
Egg freezing does not pose any problem for the future of the baby; in fact, children born after IVF treatment with frozen eggs do not differ from children born from assisted reproduction treatments in which egg vitrification has not been used.