All about egg vitrification
What is oocyte vitrification?
Oocyte vitrification is the process by which a woman can freeze her eggs to preserve her fertility and preserve her reproductive material for the future. In this way, she will be able to postpone her motherhood without her biological material being damaged by the passage of time.
For whom is the vitrification of the ovules
It is well known that every day we postpone motherhood more. The reasons are several, studies, the world of work, the couple, etc... in any case, Being a mother past 30 and even past 40 is no longer something new or strange.
However, we enter into a contraindication, when socially we want to be mothers, we are no longer at the ideal moment at a biological level to be one. In other words, the social age and the biological age do not agree.
One way to maintain our biological age in optimal conditions to be able to be mothers in the future, having the highest quality of the ovules, is by freezing them and using them in the future thanks to assisted reproduction techniques.
The first thing you should know is that oocyte vitrification is a fertility preservation technique for two large groups of women. The first is in cases of a disease for which you have to go through a medical treatment that damages or may damage the reproductive material, as is the case of oncology treatments.In this case, storing it before this treatment protects the eggs from harm. The other large group are women who have a low ovarian reserve Either because they genetically have a low ovarian reserve or because, due to age, there are fewer oocytes or they will be able to reduce their quality.
The process of extracting the ovules through ovarian stimulation
In order to preserve fertility, we must go to an assisted reproduction center. We must know that fertility decreases from the age of 35, for this reason, if in our case, we have planned to postpone the maternity after that age, it is important to go to a reproduction center to be able to control our ovarian reserve and assess freezing.
In the vitrification of oocytes, the stimulation cycle must be carried out first. This stimulation is through medical controls and medication to encourage the growth of several follicles. In each follicle, there may be a mature oocyte, therefore, the gynecologist will control the procedure in order to obtain the maximum number of quality oocytes to have a higher success rate and will remove them in the follicular puncture by means of sedation. of the patient.
The process of freezing in liquid nitrogen
Once the gynecologist has performed the follicular stimulation and the subsequent puncture and has already obtained the ovules, they are processed in the reproduction laboratory to evaluate their quality and prepare them for vitrification in liquid nitrogen.
This freezing causes the material to freeze instantly and behave like a glass, instantly lowering the temperature and creating ice crystals that preserve the material. In this way, they can keep for years or decades or until the woman decides to thaw them to use them or to destroy them if she considers it so.
The moment of defrosting or devitrification
At the moment that the woman who has gone through the egg vitrification process wants to thaw the material for use, she only has to go to the assisted reproduction clinic and indicate it so that an in vitro fertilization process can be started and the subsequent transfer .
The steps would be the following
- Preparation of the woman's body to receive possible embryos, ultrasound controls and blood tests.
- Preparation of the male part, evaluation of the seminogram and analytics or preparation of the sperm bank sample if necessary.
- When the woman's cycle is ready thawing vitrified oocytes and are fertilized in the laboratory through IVF with the icsi technique
- It is valued growth and development of embryos and its quality. If required, their genetic load can be analyzed through Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis or PGD, in this case the transfer of the embryos would be in a different cycle.
- Carry out the transfer of the embryos, fresh or frozen, to the mother's uterus. If there are several embryos obtained, those that are not transferred are vitrified again with very good survival results.
- betawait, time to wait and be able to know if the embryo has been implanted and if there is a pregnancy.
After this process, the growth of the embryos and the evolution of all pregnancy is exactly the same whether it has been achieved naturally or by assisted reproduction. What does change is that a 40-year-old woman who froze her oocytes at 30 is getting pregnant from her material at 30, and not only did she have more material, but it is of better quality and has less risk. of abortions and complications.
Thus, the vitrification of oocytes in liquid nitrogen is a great possibility for women with low reserve or for cancer patients who want to preserve fertility. With magnificent pregnancy rates thanks to the in vitro fertilization after devitrification when the woman wishes.
A woman can decide when it is her time to become a mother thanks to fertility preservation
How much does egg vitrification cost?
Ok, now you know who oocyte vitrification is for and what the process is like.
but how much does it cost? How much does egg freezing cost?
Perhaps you have considered that oocyte vitrification responds to your situation and the next question is whether we can afford it. Here I propose the economic fronts that must be covered to preserve fertility
- Ovarian stimulation treatment. Medical treatment must be paid for. In this case, you should check with the assisted reproduction center to find out its budget. Keep in mind that you can visit a couple or three of the clinics, but the prices are very similar. The important thing is that you are comfortable with the clinic and the professionals who treat you.
- The cost of the medication: You must pay for the medication for the stimulation procedure apart from the clinic. At this point, each woman may need a very different mediation. It is important that you ask your medical professional to estimate the amount of mediation you will need.
- Oocyte maintenance. Normally a monetary amount is stipulated for each year of maintenance. You should ask this point before doing the stimulation to be clear about the entire budget and a global vision, not just that of ovarian stimulation.
- Thawing and IVF At the time of thawing, you must pay for the IVF procedure with your embryo transfer. In this case, if a sperm bank or extra tests are needed, such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, they will also be added.
This will be the total price of the entire process, that of egg freezing and subsequent treatments.
However, keep in mind that you may freeze the material and then not use it because you get pregnant naturally or because you have finally decided not to be a mother or the procedure has not worked. At this point, the important thing is not the cost of the procedure, it is the fact that you have ensured your maternity as much as possible and the possibility of being able to choose whenever you want, and that is the most valuable part of the entire oocyte vitrification process.
Then,
Is it worth freezing eggs?
My personal opinion is yes, without a doubt. Better to regret having frozen eggs than not not having done it, or not having tried. In addition, the success rates are very good and it is a simple and routine procedure for assisted reproduction centers.