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We are proud to announce that Castle Connolly is recognizing five of our physicians as a 2025 Top Doctor! Learn more
The process of egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) involves stimulating the ovaries with hormones to produce multiple eggs, retrieving the eggs from the ovaries, cryopreserving them, and then storing them for later use.
Fertility preservation services like egg freezing provide a way for women to safeguard their fertility, despite the passage of time.
With the emergence of egg freezing technologies, more and more women are citing elective (non-medical) reasons to delay starting a family, such as focusing on their careers and education, finding the right life partner, or simply not being ready yet.
Though common, age is only one factor that may motivate a woman to freeze eggs. Preexisting conditions that impact fertility, such as endometriosis, ovarian cysts, polycystic ovary syndrome, need for reproductive surgery, and fallopian tube damage, are additional reasons patients opt to preserve fertility. Other patients consider fertility preservation as a way to optimize a job benefit given the increasing insurance coverage for this treatment and technology by numerous insurance providers!
The process of egg freezing involves several key steps. First, the ovaries are stimulated with hormone injections to produce multiple eggs, rather than the single egg typically released during a natural menstrual cycle. This stimulation phase usually lasts about 10-14 days, during which the development of the eggs is closely monitored through blood tests and ultrasounds.
Once the eggs have matured, they are retrieved through a minimally invasive procedure known as egg retrieval. This is performed under light sedation, where a thin needle is guided through the vaginal wall to aspirate the eggs directly from the ovaries. The procedure is quick, typically taking about 15-20 minutes.
After retrieval, the eggs are immediately frozen using a technique called vitrification, which rapidly cools the eggs to prevent ice crystal formation and preserve their viability. The frozen eggs are then stored in a secure facility until the patient is ready to use them in the future.
IVFMD’s approach to stimulating ovaries and harvesting eggs for long-term storage is simple, time-efficient, highly cost-competitive, and minimally disruptive. In most women under the age of 35, we see a recovery rate of approximately 95% of all cryopreserved mature oocytes, allowing for excellent chances to conceive a child through subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer, pending the total number of oocytes cryopreserved. More tailored expectations will be discussed with your physician based on your age and fertility testing prior to starting treatment.
At IVFMD we don’t just freeze your eggs; we truly care about your reproductive future!
There are many reasons why women decide to freeze their eggs. Regardless of whether you are considering egg freezing for lifestyle-related or medical reasons, the first step is to evaluate your fertility.
IVFMD offers basic screenings, such as hormone and AMH blood testing, as well as ultrasounds to count your follicles, which can help you decide if egg freezing is right for you.
Eggs are at their best quality and quantity during a woman’s 20s and early to mid-30s, making this age the best time to undergo oocyte cryopreservation.
A woman is born with all of the number of eggs she will ever have, and over time, they diminish in number and quality. Embryos have an increased chance of aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes) after egg age of 35. This decline in quality explains why a woman in her 40s has only a 5% chance for becoming pregnant each month. In contrast, the uterus is still capable of carrying a child well into a woman’s 40s and even early 50s! Thus, freezing oocytes and a younger age allows for more flexibility and options for building your future family at your own pace, with your own genetics, without the increased risk that comes with increasing egg age.
The total time from stimulation start to egg retrieval is usually 12-14 days. To prepare the eggs for retrieval, the patient will have frequent office visits, during which she will undergo hormone treatments to promote egg maturation and be monitored for progress and safety.
Once the eggs have adequately matured, a quick, 15-20 minute office procedure occurs in which eggs are removed. The procedure involves a vaginal ultrasound with a very thin needle attachment to aspirate the eggs directly from both ovaries. This procedure is done under intravenous sedation so that pain is controlled throughout. The eggs are frozen the same day as this procedure through a process called vitrification. Following egg retrieval, the woman goes home and requires no further treatment until she decides to use her frozen eggs.
Bloating is common for one to two weeks following the egg retrieval procedure. A menstrual period will occur approximately 2 weeks after the retrieval.
Eggs can remain frozen and be viable for use for decades! Their length of time frozen does not impact their quality.
When the patient is ready to use her frozen eggs to attempt pregnancy, the eggs are thawed, injected with sperm to achieve fertilization (done through a process referred to as ICSI) and transferred to the uterus as embryos.
Yes! IVFMD has a flourishing egg donation program and is always accepting donor applications. Please click here to learn more. Alternatively, eggs can be donated to science for research or medically discarded.
Additional lab testing may be required to donate.
Fertility preservation via egg freezing can assist you in building a family well into the future, or preserve your fertility options after a cancer or medical diagnosis. Schedule your consultation at one of our fertility clinics in Miami, Boca Raton, Cooper City, Naples, Jupiter or Viera, FL.
