According to a report by the HFEA, the number of women freezing
their eggs has tripled in five years. In 2014, 816 women used this technique in
an attempt to preserve their fertility and have a child later in life.
The HFEA has listed several reasons behind the freezing of eggs:
· “The lack of
partner is the main reason”: it affects two-thirds of women under
the age of 37 who choose this approach, and increases with age,
· Medical treatment,
which may affect fertility,
· The feeling of not
being ready for motherhood whilst being mindful of decreasing fertility,
· A desire to delay
pregnancy for professional reasons (the freezing of eggs has become very
popular with working women at key moments in their career. Moreover,
companies such as Apple and Facebook offer this option to employees as a career
incentive).
· The risk of injury or
death (especially in the case of members of the armed forces about to be
deployed),
· Sex change.
Since 2001, 3,676 women have frozen their eggs according to figures
published by the HFEA. Contrastingly, only 60 babies have been born. As far as
President of this organisation, Sally Cheshire, is concerned, “The figures
portray a very clear message”: “whereas there has been a big increase in 'social' egg freezing, the number
of frozen eggs actually used in treatment is still extremely low”.
“It
is important that
women do not see freezing as a guarantee for future pregnancy,”she
added.
Egg freezing is a unique option to hold the eggs' ''youth''. For example, you are young and active. and you aren't ready fr pregnancies yet. but you know you're more likely to want babies later in life. so you decide to freeze your eggs in order to use them later, when the right time is..I absolutely love this idea. Moreover, if I could use the option, I'd definitely do.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Here's what we should expect if our ovaries are stimulated for more than usual eggs. when multiple egg follicles are mature and anywhere from 18-20 mm in size, the doctor can decide to plan the egg retrieval process. Once that is planned, one final injection of medication is given to trigger the last stage in oocyte, or egg, maturation. Often referred to as a ‘trigger shot,’ human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is typically a one-time IVF shot that is vital to the process and encourages the last stage of maturation for the eggs. It also loosens the eggs from the follicle walls. hCG brand names include Ovidrel, Novarel, and Pregnyl. Timing is everything with the hCG shot, which often times must be administered within a one-hour window. The eggs must be retrieved within 36 hours of the shot. I'm not sure whether the procedure is the same when you're going to have your eggs extracted and than freezed..Really not sure. But to me it seems quite possible one will want to grow more eggs for freezing, right? Just another wonderful option of nowadays!
ReplyDeleteThe quality of your eggs sadly is not good enough for IVF. In some cases it's better to look at donor eggs. You use eggs from a donor’s ovaries and freeze them for future use or fertilise them with your partner or donor sperm. They are implanted in your womb to start a pregnancy. Donor eggs are becoming more common in IVF. Using donor eggs is not cheap, but one way to reduce the price is to go for egg sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat about sperm quality? Sperm can be affected by stress, poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, smoking, excessive alcohol, medications and recreational drugs. They all play their part in affecting sperm quality and quantity. One option is to try ICSI – a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
If you’ve experienced IVF failure, be bold. Pester your doctors and specialists to answer your questions and don’t rest until you’re satisfied that you’ve tried every test. If you’re not 100 percent satisfied with your doctors or clinic then change. We switched clinics ourselves. And know what, this was the best decision made ever!! God bless the med team.
I guess, the reasons for this change are manifold, including increasing numbers of women attending university and pursuing careers, the rising cost of raising a family, and relationship instability. Advances in contraceptive and reproductive technology have given women greater control in planning their family, which means that for many women, delaying motherhood is an active and empowered choice. There may also be a ‘celebrity effect’, as women see and read about celebrities having children after 40, apparently effortlessly. However, a woman’s fertility does decrease dramatically after 40 and it is important to know the facts about conception at 40 and above.
ReplyDeleteFor us, IF women/men everything differs dramatically. We We'd been ttc for 7 years. Doing multiple IUI attempts which sadly failed one after another. We underwent loads of tests to tell us what was wrong. We still gave a try to ivf with own egg which was called off because of only 1 additive test undone! And this 1 single additional test could have told us 7 years ago!! that it wasn't going to happen! Thankfully we found overseas Biotexcom where successfully completed our DE surrogacy program resulting in beautiful healthy twins.
No wonder though! Lots of women wait longer for ttc if compared. This is done for variety of reasons. Some wait for the Mr. Right to create the family with. Others to be financially stable and independent. Some want career improvements. Others are just not ready to have kids early. The thing is that they all want to feel safe they'll have kids when they're ready, so freeze their eggs for future.
ReplyDelete