Freezing and storing eggs

a) What is egg freezing and storage?

To help boost egg production, fertility drugs are used to stimulate the ovaries to produce follicles (which contain the eggs). The developing follicles are monitored and when they are large enough, they are carefully emptied to collect the eggs that they have produced. They are collected while the patient is under sedation or general anaesthesia.

To freeze the eggs, they are placed in storage in liquid nitrogen.

b) Is egg freezing and storage for me?

By storing your eggs, you may be able to use them for treatment in the future in case if

• you are facing medical treatment that may affect your fertility, for example, some forms of cancer treatment
• you are concerned about your fertility declining as you get older, and are not currently in a position to have a child.

b) What happens when eggs are frozen?

The procedure for freezing eggs is as follows:

Step 1. Before you agree to the freezing and storage of your eggs, your clinician will explain the process involved, including the risks.

Step 2. You will be screened for infectious diseases, including HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

Step 3. You will need to give written consent for your eggs to be stored.

Step 4. Eggs are collected using the same procedure as for conventional IVF.

Step 5. Cryoprotectant (freezing solution) added to protect the eggs when they are frozen.

Step 6. The eggs are frozen either by cooling them slowly or by vitrification (fast freezing and then stored in tanks of liquid nitrogen.

c) What is my chance of having a baby with frozen eggs?

Eggs are known not to respond well to freezing, and the resulting success rate is not high. However, vitrification (a new method for egg storage) has recently been show to improve the chance of eggs surviving the freeze-thaw process and therefore increase the success rate.

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