Egg Freezing – A Reproductive Choice

Numerous procedures have been created to dramatically increase the likelihood of conceiving a child thanks to advancements in science and technology. These therapies may involve in vitro fertilisation (IVF), hormone medications, or surgery. Egg freezing is one more technique among many that can increase a woman's reproductive rate.

In India, the practise of freezing eggs is becoming more popular as a result of changing lifestyles and declining fertility. Girls are no longer under pressure to get married early and have children right away. 

Freezing of eggs for later use is a blessing for many women who choose to remain single or get married later in life or are career-focused because it relieves them of the concern about their advancing age and ticking of their biological clock. 

Eggs can be frozen for either clinical or social purposes. When eggs are stored from a healthy, fertile woman, who want to delay motherhood due of their career, the term used is Social egg freezing. 

For clinical, the process is helpful for women facing medical challenges as cancer or having family history of early menopause or endometriosis. 

Origin 
Pregnancy through frozen eggs was first reported in Singapore way back in 1986. The process was then started for cancer patients aspiring to have their own biological children, as they knew that would lose their eggs during the process of chemotherapy, they would undergo this procedure before starting chemotherapy for storing their eggs.

Later this technique was adopted for patients suffering from fertility problems or other medical conditions.

Recently in India we have celebrities from Priyanka Chopra to Ekta Kapoor coming out successful with this procedure.

Priyanka Chopra recently revealed that she had frozen her eggs when she was in her 30s upon her gynaecologist mother's advice. The actress welcomed a healthy daughter in 2022 via surrogacy.

When should egg freezing be done
Freezing eggs at an early age gives a fair chance of having a healthy baby. Best time to freeze the eggs is before the age of 35 years, as quality and quantity of eggs decreases with age.

It is ideal to freeze 20-30 eggs of prime quality to increase reproductive flexibility in the future. Therefore, opting for this procedure in your late 20s or early 30s can be a great idea, as this allows more than 85% of frozen eggs to survive. The success of getting healthy baby depends on at what age the freezing procedure was done and number of eggs stored. It is to be noted that not all the eggs that are frozen will be viable when they are finally used.
 
Procedure for Egg Retrieval 
The procedure of egg retrieval for freezing takes only a day, with hospital discharge done on the same day. The procedure is performed under general anaesthesia and does not involve any cuts or stitches.

These eggs can be preserved for atleast 10 years, or for a longer period if needed. 

Planning Pregnancy
After some years when the woman is ready for pregnancy, the eggs are thawed, fertilized with a sperm to form an embryo, which is then cultured in the lab for 3-5 days and placed in her uterus or of the surrogate mother.

Journey of Egg Freezing
The process involves meeting a Fertility Specialist who will recommend lab tests to check the initial count of eggs at that period of time, this will be followed by ovarian simulation procedure wherein the ovarian follicles will be targeted to produce multiple eggs followed by shots of hormonal injections. The eggs will then undergo a maturation process. Finally the eggs will be retrieved from the woman’s ovary and frozen through vitrification process using liquid nitrogen. 

For success, apart from the age at which egg freezing was performed and the quantity of eggs kept, the knowledge and experience of the clinician/embryologist team also plays an important part in achieving the desired results.

With increase in awareness among general population, more and more women are coming forward to freeze their eggs. An advantage of egg freezing over embryo freezing is that it allows women who do not have a partner to preserve their reproductive cells. Some women may also have moral concerns about freezing embryos, making egg freezing preferable.

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