Some of the reasons women not engaging in egg freezing are the high fertility treatment cost, limited access to treatment, unaware of the availability of this service or due to advanced medical disease.
Although egg freezing can provide hope for future pregnancy, there is of cause no guarantee of success in fertility treatment.
Overall success depends on an individual’s profile, underlying medical issues and occasionally by chance too.
If you use your frozen eggs to have a child, the risk of miscarriage will be primarily based on your age when your eggs are frozen. Older women have higher miscarriage rates and abnormal genetic inheritance, mainly due to the poorer quality of eggs. Research to date has not revealed the increase in babies with birth defects as a result of egg freezing. However, more research is needed on maximising the technique and safety of Egg Freezing.
Although rare (about 1-2 %), the use of injectable fertility drugs to produce multiple eggs from the ovaries and the hormones used to induce egg maturity can cause the ovaries to become hyperstimulated during the treatment, therefore leading to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). The signs and symptoms of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome include abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. They rarely develop into a life-threatening condition.
Egg Pick Up procedure uses an aspirating needle to retrieve eggs from the ovaries through vagina ultrasound guidance. Complications such as bleeding, infection or damage to the bowel, bladder or injury to the blood vessel may arise, but the possibility is very low.
Egg freezing provides hope for women who are keen on childbearing in the future when their age catches up, or the ovarian reserve has depleted, especially if there is a potential delay in their motherhood journey for whatever reasons.
During your visit to fertility treatment clinic to consult about this procedure, it would be best to ask about the costs associated with each step on egg freezing, including annual storage fees, future laboratory fees and embryo transfer fees, among others.
If you are considering freezing your eggs, look for a fertility clinic that offers this service so that you can be adequately counselled and treatment can be appropriately instituted.