By Debbie Merryman,
Embryology Laboratory Director
Women haven’t always had the choice of freezing their eggs.
Now that it’s an option, all women should be well informed on this new assisted
reproductive technology. Below is a set of common questions and answers
regarding egg freezing to help you better understand the process and how/if it
can benefit you.
Q: What’s involved in the process of
egg freezing?
·
The ovaries are stimulated to increase the
number of eggs available to freeze, much like what happens during in vitro
fertilization (IVF). When the egg sacs
on the ovaries appear developed, the eggs are removed. The eggs are then immediately frozen.
·
Eggs are frozen using an ultra-rapid cooling
process known as vitrification.
·
When a woman is ready to use her eggs, they are thawed and inseminated with the sperm of her partner or
a donor. The resulting embryos
(fertilized eggs) are cultured in the laboratory and the best one or two are
transferred to the uterus. Remaining
embryos can be frozen for later use.
·
This process takes between 2 to 6 weeks to complete.
Q: Who should consider egg freezing?
·
Women diagnosed with cancer that have not yet
begun chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
(Women are recommended to talk to their oncologist about the potential
for egg freezing.)
·
Women undergoing treatment with IVF who do not
wish to freeze embryos.
·
Women who would like to preserve their future
ability to have children; either because they do not yet have a partner, they
elect to defer childbearing to later in life, or for other personal or medical
reasons.
Q: Is there certain criteria to be met
in order to be a candidate for egg freezing?
·
Freezing eggs at an early age may increase the
chance for a future pregnancy. Freezing
before age 38 gives the best success as there are more eggs to obtain and more
are genetically normal. Some women
freeze more than one cycle to obtain enough eggs to increase the chance of
having a healthy baby.
Q: What are the benefits of egg
freezing?
·
Egg freezing offers women with cancer the chance
to preserve their eggs so that they can have children in the future.
·
Women who freeze eggs during an IVF cycle have
the opportunity to undergo future IVF attempts without the use of stimulating
the ovaries.
·
Egg freezing can be beneficial for women who,
for purposes of education, career or other reasons, desire to postpone
childbearing.
Q: How long can the eggs remain frozen?
·
Theoretically, the eggs can remain frozen
indefinitely.
Q: Is egg freezing covered under
insurance?
·
Egg freezing is not typically a covered
procedure for most insurance companies.
·
The ART Fertility Program of Alabama
participates in Livestrong’s Fertile Hope for Women (and Men) Program (email - cancer.navigation@LIVESTRONG.org, telephone - 855-220-7777). This program helps to defray the costs of
fertility preservation for qualified cancer patients.
·
Should you have questions about the cost of
these procedures or insurance coverage, please call the ART Fertility Program
of Alabama’s financial department at 205-870-9784.
Q: How well does the process work?
·
Frozen eggs have resulted in over 2,000 babies
born worldwide. The ART Fertility
Program was the first in Alabama
·
No increases in chromosomal abnormalities, birth
defects, or developmental defects have been noted in children born from frozen
eggs.
·
The success rate with frozen eggs is related to
the age of the woman at the time of freeze and the number of eggs frozen.
Q: What is the ART Fertility Program of
Alabama’s current success rate?
·
Thus far, 6 patients have received embryos
derived from frozen-thawed eggs resulting in 3 deliveries and 1 ongoing (third
trimester) pregnancy.
We
hope you now have a better understanding of egg freezing, and who can benefit.
Should you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to call the ART
Fertility Program of Alabama at 205-870-9784.
Link:
http://artprogramal.com/node/193
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