Egg freezing is a procedure in which eggs are removed from a woman’s ovaries and stored for use later when the woman feels ready to conceive and become pregnant.
Actress Priyanka Chopra recently revealed that she froze her eggs when she was in her early 30s. She welcomed a baby girl via surrogacy in January 2022. In a recent interview, she said that she decided to freeze her eggs on the advice of her mother, Dr. Madhu Chopra, a gynecologist. Egg freezing is also known as oocyte cryopreservation. Conceiving becomes more difficult for older women as compared to younger women. Egg freezing helps women have children later in life without worrying about their biological clock. Pregnancy with frozen eggs is not as successful as with fresh eggs. However, it does give the possibility of conceiving in the future. To understand more about the procedure, we spoke to Dr. Aruna Kalra, Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram . Let’s take a look at the details.
Understanding the Egg Freezing Process
The quality of a woman’s eggs tends to decline with age. Egg freezing allows a woman to delay pregnancy until a later date.
Dr. Karla explains, “Egg freezing is a procedure in which eggs are removed from a woman’s ovaries and stored for later use when the woman feels ready to conceive and become pregnant. These frozen eggs are safe to use and are of good quality for later use. Frozen eggs can be stored for many years before being used for fertility preservation or in vitro fertilization (IVF) if natural conception is not possible.”
During egg freezing, a woman’s eggs are stimulated with medication. These stimulated eggs are then removed from the ovaries and frozen for later use. These eggs are then fertilized with sperm as needed to create an embryo. Once the embryo is formed, it is implanted in the uterus and the baby develops normally.
Egg freezing, a boon for women
Dr. Karla explains that women who are undergoing medical procedures that can harm their eggs and ovaries, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and other cancer medications, may choose to freeze their eggs.
Furthermore, as women get older, they are more likely to have health problems including diabetes, uterine fibroids, high blood pressure, and endometriosis. These conditions can affect fertility and the ability to have healthy children. Therefore, egg freezing is a viable option for women with these conditions.
Who should consider this procedure?
Egg freezing can be a valuable option for women who want to delay pregnancy due to career priorities and other life goals. Additionally, women with medical conditions that may affect fertility or a family history of early menopause, as well as women who have not found a suitable partner but want to preserve their fertility in the future, may benefit from egg freezing. Additionally, women whose partners are being treated for male infertility may also choose this method,” Dr. Karla added.
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