Nowadays, women are choosing to have children later in life. If you want kids in your late 30s, 40s, or 50s, egg freezing in India can be a good option for you. This allows you to control your biological clock to start a family anytime.
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is a procedure to save a women’s egg for later use. Females who are undergoing any surgery on the ovaries (e.g, ovarian cyst removal), have ovarian cancer, or want to conceive late can opt for this procedure. In it, the unfertilised eggs of a woman are stored for years until she is ready to have children. This also secures the quality and health of eggs. As you age, egg quality starts declining.
What is the Process Of Egg Freezing In India
When you are planning to get your eggs frozen, you need to visit the best gynaecologist and IVF specialist in your area. For example, if you live in Mohali, then look for the best IVF centre in Mohali. Your doctor will guide you and help you freeze your eggs.
Before undergoing treatments, a gynaecologist does a transvaginal ultrasound and blood tests. This will help the physician to know how many eggs are available in your ovaries. After testing, the egg collection process starts, which is very much similar to IVF up to certain steps. The goal is to retrieve the maximum number of eggs as safely as possible within a single cycle.
Here are the steps of egg freezing procedure:
Ovarian stimulation: Upon the start of your menstrual cycle, the doctor will give you daily injectable medications of natural hormones. This will help to stimulate follicles in your ovaries to grow and mature. During this period, the doctor will monitor the woman regularly with ultrasound and bloodwork to ensure the appropriate growth of follicles.
Trigger injection: When follicles grow, the doctor instructs the patient to take a trigger injection. This prepares the body for egg retrieval.
Egg retrieval: A vaginal ultrasound probe is safely inserted into the ovaries to retrieve the eggs. During this process, intravenous sedation will be given to the woman so she won’t experience any pain or discomfort.
Cryopreservation: The retrieved eggs are safely frozen and stored for future use.
Altogether, the process takes a couple of weeks, from hormone treatment to egg retrieval and freezing.
Benefits Of Egg Freezing
Here are the benefits of egg freezing in India:
- Egg freezing helps protect the quality of eggs despite the age of women.
- It benefits women’s biology and helps them live a happy life with no stress of declining egg quantity.
- It can help reduce women’s fertility anxiety.
- Egg freezing can protect women’s eggs from disease or preserve them before invasive medical treatments.
- It provides you with a reliable time to find the right partner to have children.
- This technology benefits women who wish to pursue other priorities before becoming a mother.
What Are The Risks Of Egg Freezing?
As already stated, egg freezing in India involves stimulating the ovaries through injections to mature more eggs. This sometimes leads to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (HSS), a condition where the ovaries become painful and swollen. Further, this may cause other symptoms like vomiting and bloating. Other unwanted side effects of the egg-freezing procedure may include weight gain, mood swings, and headaches.
How Much Does Egg Freezing Cost In India?
In India, egg freezing costs less than in other countries. The fertility world charges egg-freezing costs ranging from Rs1.20 lakhs to 1.70 lakhs. This cost includes the charges of IVF protocol, which are the medicines and injections given for ovarian stimulation, along with the charges for the procedure of egg retrieval and subsequent freezing.
How To Prepare Yourself For Egg Freezing Procedure?
Have you decided to go for egg freezing? If yes, then making a few lifestyle changes can help you freeze quality eggs. Here are a few things that you can consider before going for the procedure.
- Eat an omega-3-rich diet. You can add a good quantity of fish, nuts, and seeds to your diet as they are rich in omega-3s. Also, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables to fulfil your body’s need for vitamins and minerals.
- Reduce your caffeine consumption. It is because high levels of caffeine consumption are associated with decreased fertility and may affect your egg quality.
- Get enough good quality sleep as it plays a vital role in fertility.
- Start taking good quality prenatal vitamins and nutrition for fertility.
- Moderate exercise can benefit you in many ways. It will not only balance blood sugar but will also manage body fat levels.
- Keep cortisol levels low with meditation, yoga, and other stress-relieving therapies.
This number can vary from person to person and depends on factors like age, but generally, it is recommended to freeze between 12-20 eggs. It is best to talk to your doctor regarding your goals for your future.
Yes, you can freeze your eggs at 35 if you want to become a mother late. Make sure you decide as early as possible because your egg quality and quantity decrease with every menstruation cycle.
If you are sure that you don’t want to become a mother till 40 or 50, then it is better to freeze your eggs in your early 30s. Also, you can freeze eggs in your 20s. It is better to consult the best lady doctor for egg freezing.
Yes, freezing eggs at 39 if you still have enough eggs in the ovaries. This can be checked with blood tests and ultrasound. If, however, your ovaries are already depleted of eggs, it may not be worthwhile. There is no perfect age for egg freezing, but the earlier, the better for freezing quality eggs.
Most women do not feel any change in their weight during egg freezing.
