Egg freezing is a form of assisted reproductive technology. As women age, the quality of their eggs will decline, not only that, but they will no longer ovulate after menopause. This means that their ovaries will stop producing eggs. 

The result of this condition is that their chances of getting pregnant at an older age are getting smaller. On the other hand, there are many women who are not ready to conceive. Therefore, they undergo an egg freezing procedure. 

Purpose

1. Pursuit of career or education

Those who want to pursue a higher degree or a more stable career need to work hard in their youth.

2. Personal reasons

Not only because of busyness, but there are also cases where someone is ready to get pregnant, but has not found the right partner. 

3. Cancer

The process of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments will generally hamper and sometimes cause a person to lose their fertility, especially reproductive cancer.

4. Health problems

Egg freezing is an option for women who are undergoing treatment for diseases that affect fertility such as endometriosis and PCOS.

5. Donor

Not all women still have ovaries, so they will utilize other people's eggs for their pregnancy efforts.

Regardless of the reason, the point is that this procedure is mostly performed by women who are not ready to conceive at peak fertility.

Procedure

Each clinic may have a different timeframe for performing the egg freezing procedure, but it is estimated that it will take a total of 2 to 3 weeks for the procedure to be completed. The ovaries will be stimulated to produce eggs according to the menstrual cycle for optimal results. 

1. Medical Examination

The procedure will begin with an appointment with your doctor to discuss your desire to freeze your eggs. Next, a complete medical history, blood tests, and hormone tests will be conducted. In addition, a transvaginal ultrasound may also be required to count the antral follicles (a way to assess the number of eggs left in the ovaries).

After undergoing everything, the doctor will then tell you what the next steps are, including the proper ovarian stimulation protocol to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The doctor will also estimate how many eggs to retrieve and how to take the medication to stimulate the ovaries.

2. Ovarian Stimulation and Monitoring

The process may begin with taking birth control pills or other medications such as estrogen, lupron, or aygestin. The doctor will continue to monitor through blood tests or ultrasound to ensure that the client starts the stimulation injections at the right time. Furthermore, the doctor or nurse will provide detailed instructions for how the client should perform the injections themselves.

The process of stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs generally uses follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and gonadotropin (GnRH) injected into the abdomen. The doctor will adjust the dosage and combination of drugs depending on how the body responds while monitoring it regularly.

The ovaries may begin to enlarge, so strenuous activities such as sports or running are not recommended at this time. Once the follicles have reached a good size, the client will receive a trigger injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), lupron, or a combination of both.

3. Egg Retrieval

The next step is egg retrieval after the client has been previously sedated. The process will begin with a transvaginal ultrasound examination with a needle inserted into the follicle. The fluid inside the follicle containing the egg will be aspirated and collected into a tube. An embryologist will examine the follicular fluid and identify the number.

4. Egg Recovery and Freezing

Side effects of the egg retrieval procedure are cramping, bloating, constipation, and vaginal spotting within the first 24 hours. To relieve the pain, clients can take over-the-counter painkillers. But when the symptoms are more severe, then visit the doctor again immediately. 

After successful egg retrieval, the collected mature eggs are frozen through a process called vitrification. This process relies on rapid freezing using liquid nitrogen to minimize the freezing of ice crystals on the eggs, with the aim of having a high survival rate.

The procedure for egg freezing will depend on the individual clinic's policy.

Each step will be more or less the same, but it again depends on each clinic's policy and the individual client's condition. Will egg freezing guarantee a successful pregnancy in the future? How much does it cost to complete the process? Are there any side effects of the procedure?
 

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