Egg Freezing (oocyte cryopreservation)
Design Your Future
Your Egg Freezing Journey
STEP 1. Fertility Consult (40 minutes)
- Meet and discuss your fertility plan with your doctor or nurse practitioner through a virtual telemedicine consultation
- Learn about how to preserve your fertility
- Review your medical and family history
- Discuss logistics with one of our fertility coaches including services and pricing
STEP 2. Fertility Prep
- Call our center when you begin your menses
- Schedule your transvaginal ultrasound to evaluate your ovarian follicle count
- Schedule your blood test on day 2 of your menstrual cycle
- Schedule a consult to review your results
- Meet with your fertility coach to order your medication
- Financial preparation
STEP 3. Egg Freezing Cycle
- Baseline blood test and ultrasound on day 2 of your menstrual cycle
- Begin nightly injections and egg stimulation
- Re-occurring morning visits for ultrasound & blood work
- Connect with your nurse to discuss your progress
STEP 4. Egg Retrieval
- The “trigger” injection for your ovaries
- Schedule your egg retrieval
- Go in the morning to Boca Fertility for your retrieval procedure
- Receive your preliminary egg retrieval count!
STEP 5. After care
- Treat yourself to a leisure day
- Receive final egg count
- Plan with fertility coach to do another egg retrieval
- Eggs go into a long term storage facility
Egg Freezing & Boca Fertility
Historical background
We know that there is a progressive loss of egg (oocyte) quantity and quality that occurs with female aging. The end result is a steady increase in the incidence of infertility, chromosomal abnormalities and pregnancy loss from age 20 to 35 and a more rapidly increasing risk of infertility thereafter. Egg freezing may allow women to have an opportunity to have biologic children later in life.
In contrast to sperm or embryo freezing, successful egg freezing has been elusive and relative difficult to accomplish until recently. This is because the egg contains much more water than any other cell type and when it is slowly frozen, ice crystals can form within the egg, severely damaging or destroying the egg. Using a new “flash freezing” process, called vitrification, the eggs can be successfully frozen after they are rapidly immersed in liquid nitrogen, minimizing freeze damage to the eggs.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) published guidelines for egg freezing in Fertility and Sterility (Volume 99, Issue 1, Pages 37-43, January 2013). The guideline states that “No increases in chromosomal abnormalities, birth defects, or developmental deficits have been noted in the children born from cryopreserved oocytes. This technique should no longer be considered experimental.”
How successful is egg freezing?
Who is a candidate for egg freezing?
- Cancer patients
There are 50,000 reproductive – aged women who are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them require surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments which may destroy their eggs and cause infertility. Egg freezing before beginning cancer treatment can help them preserve their fertility.
For married or single women with a male partner, conventional IVF and embryo freezing is an alternative to egg freezing
- “Social Egg Freezing” for women who want to postpone having children
Many women are delaying the age of their first pregnancy, increasing their risk of being childless as they get older. This is because there is an age related decrease in the quantity and quality of their eggs. Proactive egg freezing at an earlier age, when the best eggs are produced can provide women with the “reproductive autonomy” to have children with their own eggs when they are ready. Egg freezing eases the pressure to have a child just because the biological clock is ticking.
- Couples with religious or ethical objections to freezing embryos
Some patients may have religious or moral objections to freezing excess embryos during their IVF cycle. Other women who deliver after IVF face the dilemma of what to do with the frozen embryos if they are no longer needed. In such cases, fertilizing only 2 eggs and freezing the remaining unfertilized eggs for later use, if necessary, may circumvent the moral dilemma of banking frozen embryos.
What can I expect during an egg freezing cycle?
Experience
A pioneering and successful fertility center since 1982, Boca Fertility was the first IVF center in Palm Beach County to accomplish a successful pregnancy and delivery of a baby conceived through IVF. Countless numbers of infertile couples are now parents thanks to the care they received at Boca Fertility.
Success
Our IVF program consistently achieves high success rates (SART Clinic Summary Report - Sartcorsonline.com), utilizing state of the art techniques such as IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE), Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), egg and embryo freezing, gestational surrogacy and donor egg IVF.
Personalized Care
Boca Fertility is physician-owned, so you can expect to receive unparalleled individualized and compassionate care. You will be cared for by only one doctor, and you will find our staff to be truly supportive. You will be pleased by the relaxed atmosphere and the very personal attention you receive at Boca Fertility.