Cryopreservation of eggs is not a necessity, it is a choice.
For every woman, motherhood is a conscious choice and an inalienable right. However, fertility has time limits. Cryopreservation comes to provide the solution.
What exactly is egg cryopreservation?
This is an innovative service that ensures women the possibility to “freeze” time, preventing the further aging of their eggs and to choose when they will become mothers. The number and quality of eggs decreases after the age of 35, so the chance of pregnancy decreases. Egg cryopreservation now offers a way out of this problem.
Is it a difficult or painful process?
Not at all. The process steps are quite simple. The process is completed in 10-14 days. During this period, the appropriate medication is taken for the maturation of many eggs. Alternatively, unmedicated egg retrieval can be scheduled as part of the natural cycle, or egg retrieval with mild drug stimulation. Maturation is monitored by ultrasound and blood tests, while the egg retrieval process takes a few minutes. After a few hours of observation, the woman can return to her daily activity.
What happens when the woman wants to have a child?
The eggs are cryopreserved in the laboratory using the vitrification method, where they can remain for many years without affecting their quality. When the woman wishes to have children, the eggs are thawed and prepared to be fertilized in the laboratory along with the man’s sperm.
How effective is the method?
All the studies that have been carried out after the establishment of egg vitrification, as well as the experience of the Institute of Life-IASO from the application of the method, demonstrate that the quality of cryopreserved eggs, the possibility of their fertilization and the pregnancy rates are comparable to those of fresh ones eggs.
In addition, the embryology laboratory of the Institute of Life – IASO now has a powerful tool in its hands, “CHLOE OQ”. The “CHLOE OQ” technology is the first and only artificial intelligence scientific tool in Greece and the first to provide personalized analysis for each woman cryopreserving her eggs!
In particular, this leading technology in oocyte cryopreservation provides for the first time a comprehensive analysis of collected oocytes, including:
1. Evaluation and grading of the qualitative and morphological characteristics of each egg separately
2. Percentage chances of blastocyst formation (day 5 – 6 embryos) per
ovule and as a whole
3. Percentage chances of having a child
The Institute of Life – IASO is the first Reproduction Unit in Greece that has been certified as a Best Practice IVF Center for the high success rates after egg cryopreservation, by the leading company in the field KITAZATO, as well as the only Unit in the European Union with a double system monitoring its Cryopreservation Bank for the absolute safety of the genetic material.
Is the method safe?
The American Society of Assisted Reproduction ASRM considers the egg vitrification method suitable for everyday application, while studies of children born with this method show that the method is completely safe.
Up to what age can women freeze their eggs?
Although there are no internationally set limits, because both the number and quality of eggs decline after age 35, experts advise that egg cryopreservation is most effective as early as possible.
How long can I cryopreserve my eggs?
According to Greek legislation, the cryopreservation of eggs is allowed for 5 years with the possibility of extension for five (5) years at a time, provided that the woman has not completed the fifty-fourth year and zero days of her age (from the 50th to the 54th, permission from the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction).
Is it considered an acceptable technique by society?
Absolutely. As shown by the funding of cryopreservation by companies such as Apple and Facebook for their employees, the postponement of childbearing is a social reality. Science responds to the challenges, meeting the needs of young women, and gives them today the freedom to choose the right moment according to their own personal and social situation. At the same time, it is a step forward for women and society. Egg cryopreservation is not a necessity, it is a choice.
Dr. Athanasios V. Garavelas
MD,MSc.MMSc,Phd
Master in Pregnancy Pathology
Master of Assisted Reproduction
Scientific Associate IOLIFE-IASO