What is Egg Freezing & should you do it?

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Egg freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is the process of preserving a woman’s ability to get pregnant in the future. If I knew half of what I know now, I would have tried to do this in my mid-20s. Obviously not everyone has the means to do this when they are young - and really, who is thinking about preserving fertility when you are doing everything you can not to get pregnant? 

 

But what I can say is everyone should have their hormone levels tested to know where you stand along the way so you have the resources to make an informed decision for your future. 

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Here is the basic breakdown:

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1. Baseline Testing

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Hormone blood tests can indicate early menopause, low ovarian reserve, PCOS, or other health conditions that may effect fertility. The two primary tests are AMH and FSH. 

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2. Meet with a Fertility Specialist.

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Once you have received your results and have decided you want to explore cryo preservation, book a consultation with a fertility specialist. I adore my doctor (Dr. Caroline Alexander) at Southern California Reproductive Center, and since mine was a special case it was worth it to me to splurge for the hyper-personalized care, but there are more affordable options now, like Kindbody, that I recommend if your levels are good and you are just taking proactive measures. 

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3. Optimize your Fertility with Diet & Supplements.

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You are investing a lot of time, money, and emotion into this - so you want to give your eggs their best shot. Your diet and lifestyle can play a big part in your egg health. There are also many supplements that can help increase egg quality and overall fertility. In an ideal world, you would start this 3 months prior to extraction. 

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4. Stim Cycle 

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On Day 2-3 of your period, you will go in for an ultrasound and bloodwork. From there, you will start your personalized concoction of meds for the next 10-14 days. You will go in routinely for ultrasounds and bloodwork to monitor your follicle growth. 

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5. Egg Extraction 

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This is the easy part. The morning of your extraction, you and your swollen ovaries will go in for an out-patient surgery. You are typically in and out in about 2 hours, and the procedure itself only lasts around 30 minutes. Your nurse will put in your IV and soon you’ll be in the clouds. 

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6. Egg or Embryo Storage

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After extraction, the matured eggs will be preserved in an iced storage facility until you are ready to use them! 

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