Egg freezing a safe option for women

It is wonderful how technology can evolve and become a blessing for women. In the current scenario when women have proved their excellence in all fields, they have also adopted the role of the bread winner of the family apart from being a mother.

Who would have imagined that even the biological clock can now be turned back in time by ‘egg freezing,’ which is a path-breaking technology in the field of assisted reproduction. It is an empowerment that women have earned, a choice that they can make and it offers them the flexibility to embrace motherhood whenever they are ready.

What is egg freezing? Egg freezing, technically called oocyte cryopreservation, involves stimulating, extracting, freezing, and storing a woman’s eggs (oocytes). The eggs can be thawed for months or even years. They can be later fertilised, creating embryos. These embryos then can be transferred to the uterus in an attempt to achieve a successful pregnancy.

Cryopreservation as an alternative for women to beget children whose career aspirations take precedence over having a baby, or for those who believe they have not found the right partner yet. Egg freezing provides a safety net to these women. Ovarian tissue freezing or banking, which is not so well known or developed in India, is a step ahead of egg freezing. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation or freezing lets women freeze a vastly large number of immature eggs for future use. When frozen ovarian tissue is re-implanted into the body and when it regains its functions, immature eggs that were frozen within the tissue start developing normally, and become retrievable in an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure.

Who can consider egg freezing: Women who want or need to delay childbearing in order to pursue educational, career or other personal goals, because fertility is known to decline with age, freezing your eggs at an early reproductive age will best ensure your chance for a future pregnancy. Unlike the ovary and oocytes (eggs), the uterus does not age and can carry a pregnancy well in to the 40s and 50s.

The facility can also be useful to women with a family history of early menopause. Some forms of early menopause (premature ovarian failure) are genetically linked. Egg freezing offers a chance to preserve eggs before they are all depleted. Moreover, the technology offers women diagnosed with cancer a chance to preserve their eggs prior to chemotherapy, surgery or radiation therapy. Most of these treatments destroy the eggs and lead to infertility. However, in some exceptional cases viable eggs may be present after cancer treatment.


Premium quality

Timing is the key for egg preservation. The best outcomes for egg freezing is when women opt for freezing eggs before 30, as this clearly gives advantage of premium egg quality and quantity.

Process of Egg freezing: In oocyte cryopreservation, the eggs are harvested by a process similar to the natural cycle. The patient is made to grow more eggs, with the help of hormonal injections, which are patient-friendly and can, in most cases, be self-administered. The eggs are later retrieved by a 10-minute procedure under the effects of anaesthesia. The patient can resume normal life within a day.

Frozen (cryopreserved) eggs are stored at -196 degrees, so there is no deterioration in quality of the eggs with time. They are frozen in liquid nitrogen and liquid cryoprotectant ensure long-term storage. Recent studies have shown that egg-freezing by vitrification method increases conception rates. That is because the chances of the eggs surviving the freeze-thaw process is comparatively higher.

How long can the eggs remain frozen? Long-term storage of frozen eggs does not result in any decrease in quality. To date, the longest frozen embryo to result in a live birth was in ice for 13 years. However, it is recommended that six to eight eggs be stored for each pregnancy attempt. Most women who are 38 years of age and under can expect to harvest 10-15 eggs per cycle.

Although there are limitations in this process, it is definitely a great milestone in the path to assisted reproduction and a boon to women. Decades ago, IVF was frowned upon, now it is a widely accepted fertility treatment. Egg freezing is on the same path.

The writer is Director and Head Reproductive Medicine, Manipal Fertility