FERTILITY PRESERVATION
The belief that you will someday have a baby and become a mother is a common dream shared by nearly every woman. The question for most is not usually if they will have a child, but rather when it will happen. Happily, this expectation is fulfilled naturally for many; but for others, personal circumstances or medical conditions can become barriers to achieving parenthood.
A woman’s fertility is largely dependent on the number of her eggs. As a woman ages, her fertility potential or egg quality decreases as do the chances of conception. Additionally, some medical conditions such as premature menopause accelerate the aging of eggs while other conditions, cancer or lupus, for example, require treatments that often have an adverse effect on fertility. Whatever the cause, diminished egg quality significantly impacts one’s ability to conceive.
Our Center offers the latest in egg freezing technology (also called oocyte vitrification) to protect a woman’s fertility in all of these situations. By making the choice to freeze her eggs today, a woman can lock in her fertility potential for future use when the circumstances and timing are right for her.
Elective Fertility Preservation-Pausing the Biologic Clock:
Women are most fertile in their 20s and early 30s. A woman’s fertility decreases with age due to a decline in egg number and quality. In addition, the chance of miscarriage and having a child with a chromosomal abnormality increases with age.
Many women may not be ready to start a family during their fertile years for a number of reasons. It may not be the right time to start a family if a woman is pursuing education, developing her career, or seeking a life partner. Egg freezing may help a woman start her family when she is ready. When a woman freezes her eggs, the chance of pregnancy is based on her age when the eggs were frozen, not her age when she uses the eggs.