Egg freezing is most effective for women in their 20s or early 30s, as younger eggs generally result in higher success rates for future pregnancy. The procedure is typically not recommended after the age of 40, as the number of eggs you have and the quality of those eggs both decrease as you get older. 

There are various reasons why women choose to freeze their eggs. For some, it’s a proactive step taken in the face of medical challenges, while for others, it provides peace of mind for the future.

Egg freezing is beneficial if you:

• Have a cancer diagnosis and must undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which can impact fertility
• Need surgery that could potentially damage your ovaries
• Have chromosomal abnormalities, such as Turner syndrome or fragile X syndrome, or a family history of early menopause
• Have a disease affecting the ovaries, like endometriosis, or the need to remove ovaries due to medical conditions
• Want to delay childbearing while keeping your reproductive options open

Another important factor is your overall good health. Egg freezing is best done at a time when you have no underlying medical conditions that would negatively affect ovarian function. 

If you've been diagnosed with cancer, your ability to freeze your eggs depends on the type of cancer and whether there’s enough time to complete the fertility preservation process before starting treatment.

The first step in the egg freezing process involves a thorough medical evaluation, including blood work and hormone testing. You’ll also undergo a transvaginal ultrasound to perform an antral follicle count (AFC), which helps assess your ovarian reserve (the number of eggs you have left). This helps us tailor your ovarian stimulation plan to optimize egg production.

You will be given hormone injections for 10-12 consecutive days to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. You may be advised to take birth control pills for at least a month before starting hormone injections. This helps suppress your natural cycle and helps boost the effectiveness of the hormones.

The hormonal injections will typically be as follows:

• Two weeks of injections with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to stimulate your ovaries to produce more eggs.
• Mid-cycle injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-antagonist) to prevent premature ovulation.
• An injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and/or Lupron to trigger ovulation.

During this time, we closely monitor your progress through blood tests and ultrasounds. Based on how your body responds to the injections, we may adjust your medication dosage and combinations. Throughout the stimulation process, you’ll typically have 3 to 5 monitoring visits to track the growth of your follicles. 

Once the eggs are mature, they are retrieved from your ovaries in a minimally invasive procedure. The process is performed under light sedation, although it can be done with local anesthesia in certain situations. This process is the same as the egg retrieval process for IVF treatment.

Using a transvaginal ultrasound probe for guidance, we insert a thin needle into your follicles. The fluid inside each follicle, which contains the eggs, is aspirated and collected into small tubes. The fluid is then carefully examined to locate and identify the eggs.

Your age and ovarian reserve determine how many eggs are retrieved during the process. In general, women over 40 tend to have fewer eggs retrieved compared to those under 35.

The entire procedure takes about 10 to 20 minutes, and you can return home the same day.

After retrieval, your eggs are immediately assessed for quality. The healthy, mature eggs are frozen using vitrification. This is a process that freezes them rapidly using liquid nitrogen.

Freezing the eggs this way prevents the formation of ice crystals on the eggs, improving their chances of survival for future use. The frozen eggs are then stored securely and can remain frozen for many years without degradation in quality.

Following the egg retrieval, you may experience mild cramping or bloating, constipation, and light vaginal spotting during the first 24 hours. Most of this discomfort can be managed with over-the-counter pain medications or a heating pad. You may resume normal activities within 1-2 days, though it’s recommended to take it easy and avoid intense physical activity for about a week.

The success of achieving pregnancy with frozen-thawed eggs depends largely on the age at which the eggs were retrieved for freezing and the number of eggs retrieved. Generally, younger women have higher success rates with pregnancy using frozen-thawed eggs.