What is Egg Freezing?

Egg freezing gives women the ability to get pregnant in the future through a process that involves harvesting, freezing and storing her eggs to later be used for in vitro fertilization once she is ready to have a baby.

During egg freezing, unfertilized eggs are extracted from the woman’s ovary in a surgical procedure, which requires sedation. Once retrieved, the eggs are frozen in a process called vitrification to preserve them and prevent them from aging. Her frozen eggs are then safely stored until she is ready to get pregnant. Then, the eggs are thawed and fertilized with sperm through in vitro fertilization.

Who Should Freeze Their Eggs?

Many women and couples decide to egg freeze for a variety of different reasons. Egg freezing is a great option for someone who does now want to get pregnant now, but does wish to get pregnant at a later point in their life.

Common reasons to consider egg freezing in NYC, Queens, and Long Island include:

You have a health condition or illness, which might impact your fertility, such as sickle cell anemia or autoimmune diseases
You need to undergo a medical treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation for cancer, which can impact your ability to get pregnant. Such treatments may compromise your fertility, so egg freezing before the treatment can increase your chances of being able to have biological children in the future
Personal or professional reasons. Freezing your eggs at a younger age can preserve the vitality of your eggs so that you are better able to get pregnant in the future, during a time you feel more ready to be a mother
Some women prefer to undergo in vitro fertilization with a frozen egg, rather than a frozen embryo, for religious and ethical reasons. Egg freezing, unlike embryo freezing, does not require sperm and are frozen unfertilized.

If you might wish to freeze your eggs, we encourage you to schedule an egg freezing consultation with our expert and compassionate medical team so that they can help determine if egg freezing is right for you.

Are There Risks to Egg Freezing in in NYC, Queens, and Long Island?

Egg freezing does involve some health and emotional risks.

Fertility drugs are used to prompt ovulation so that multiple eggs can be retrieved at once. It is not common, but sometimes these fertility drugs are associated with certain side effects, such as swelling, abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and rarely a life-threatening syndrome.

Complications with the actual egg retrieval process are rare, but may cause bleeding, infection or damage to blood vessels or areas such as the bladder or bowel.

Egg freezing is a treatment that inspires hope for pregnancy in the future. However, it does not guarantee success. Many factors contribute to successful birth, and risk of a miscarriage largely depends on your age at the time in which your eggs are frozen. Typically the earlier you freeze them, the healthier and younger your eggs are.

How To Prepare Egg Freezing?

If egg freezing is a viable option for you, your Garden OB/GYN egg freezing specialist will walk you through the exact pre-procedure steps so that you are prepared for your treatment. These steps might include blood screening tests, ovarian reserve tests to evaluate the quantity and quality of your eggs, and STD/STI and HIV testing. Before the procedure, you will also need to participate in treatment to stimulate ovulation. This involves taking fertility drugs to ensure you ovulate and produce multiple eggs for retrieval.

What Can I Expect After the Egg Freezing Procedure?

Following your procedure, you may feel crampy and achy, but this is normal. At the discretion of your doctor, after a few days to a week, you should be able to resume normal activities and participate in your daily routines, though it is advised to abstain from unprotected sex to prevent unintended pregnancy.

Interested in learning more about egg freezing and other fertility treatments at NYC, Queens, and Long Island? Contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our Garden OB/GYN fertility and family planning experts.