Have you considered social egg freezing yet?

Social egg freezing is the method of preserving a woman’s eggs, not for medical reasons but social considerations such as pursuing a career goal or waiting to find the right life partner, or economic stability before starting a family. They can be used to have a baby at a later date

If you are among those who want to climb the corporate ladder before committing yourself to parenthood but are worried about the biological clock ticking in the background, social egg freezing is just the procedure you need to know about.

As the name suggests, social egg freezing refers to the method of preserving a woman’s fertility, or eggs, not for medical reasons but social considerations such as pursuing a career goal or waiting to find the right life partner, or economic and emotional stability before starting a family. The eggs can be retrieved at a later stage and used to induce a pregnancy, offering the woman to have a biological baby of her own at a time of her choice.

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Back in 2014, Facebook and Apple had made an announcement that all their women employees will be eligible for social egg freezing as part of benefits offered by the company. This pathbreaking announcement made headlines across the world as it offered men and women a level playing field professionally. By freezing their eggs, women could continue to focus on career and postpone motherhood by a few years. Today, several other companies have followed suit and offer this benefit to retain the female talent.

Since age is one of the most important factors for having a healthy baby, those considering social egg freezing must visit an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinic to have themselves evaluated for the procedure and check if they are eligible to postpone their pregnancy. The process of pre-investigations includes simple blood tests and ultrasound scans on the medical front and counselling.

When the woman is ready, and has decided to freeze the eggs, the procedure can be started on the second day of the period, when hormonal injections called gonadotrophins are started to stimulate the ovaries for approximately 12 days. Once the follicles are mature, the eggs from the woman are collected with the help of a minor medical procedure done under anaesthesia. This process is simple and does not require any hospitalization. The woman can go back home within a few hours of its completion. The eggs which are retrieved are frozen using a technique known as vitrification or flash freezing.

A logical question to ask here is what is the success rate of social egg freezing and are all women able to have healthy pregnancies with the frozen eggs? The success rates are directly proportional to the woman’s age. The ideal age for egg freezing is late twenties. As the age advances, the success rates reduce and over 35 years, the viability of the eggs and success rates proportionally come down.

The success also depends on the laboratory selected for the procedure so one must run a background check on the experience and success rates, survival rates with oocyte vitrification of the lab in consideration. Some labs only vitrify embryos and have little experience with egg freezing, which can prove to be counter-productive.

Also, what side effects can the woman expect? In a majority of cases, this procedure has temporary side effects like nausea, bloating and mood changes. Major side effects like Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) have now become rare due to modern medication and techniques. But, in order to reduce any side effects, women must drink at least 3 litres of water a day, eat a high protein diet and avoid going to the gym while taking the hormonal medication and for two weeks after the procedure.

There are several myths surrounding fertility that need to be addressed. It is believed that babies born from frozen eggs are not healthy – this is not true. This stems from another myth that the quality of the eggs get affected or in some cases even damaged upon freezing. This myth has no medical basis. Also, you don’t need to be married or have a partner to freeze your eggs.

There is a lack of awareness about the biological clock and women feel that the success rates of social egg freezing will be the same at any age. The truth is that both the quality and quantity of a woman’s eggs decline with advancing age and, therefore, the procedure should be done early on.

For more information contact SCI IVF Hospital at:

Address: S-21, Greater Kailash Part 1, New Delhi – 110048

Call: +91-9267937367

Mail: sciivfhospitals@gmail.com

Website: www.sciivf.com

Disclaimer: This is a promotional feature, produced by the brand and does not have journalistic/ editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.