Cryopreservation, or egg freezing, is a reproductive option that more and more women across Crystal Lake, Illinois, are choosing in order to start their families when it’s right for them.
InVia Fertility clinics offer egg-freezing services as well as other fertility treatment options that can help you grow your family when you’re ready.
How Does the Egg Freezing Process Work?
The egg-freezing process begins with a fertility consultation. During this consultation, a fertility specialist will discuss your medical history, reproductive plans, and reasons for cryopreservation.
You will be given medication to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs. Your fertility specialist will monitor how your body responds to the medication and your ovaries’ progress in egg development. Once the eggs mature, you will receive a “trigger shot,” a hormone injection that prepares your ovaries to release the eggs.
Your fertility specialist will conduct an egg retrieval via a short surgical procedure completed under mild sedation. Once the eggs are collected, they will be frozen for long-term storage.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Egg Freezing?
Good candidates for egg freezing are women interested in starting or growing their family in the future. Your fertility specialist can discuss your reproductive plans with you to determine If egg freezing may be the right choice. Some of the reasons people consider freezing their eggs include:
- You are in your 20's or early 30's and want to preserve your fertility potential to have children later in life.
- If you are currently going through IVF treatment and don’t want to undergo another egg maturation cycle.
- You need treatment for health conditions such as cancer, an autoimmune disease, or use medications that can harm a fetus or your fertility.
- If you are transgender and want to freeze your eggs prior to beginning gender-affirming care.
Our fertility clinic can freeze and store your eggs for the future when you are ready to build your family. There is no set timeline for when your eggs must be thawed. When you are ready to grow your family, our team is also experienced in the thaw and IVF process to utilize your eggs.
When Should You Freeze Your Eggs?
When you freeze your eggs, you stop the “biological clock” on them. This means that the age at which you freeze your eggs is the age at which they remain, even as you age. Freezing your eggs at the height of your fertility means they can be utilized after your fertility declines later in life. However, it's important to keep in mind that while egg freezing can preserve your fertility potential, it is not a guarantee.
Most women experience their fertility peak in their 20s and early 30s. By age 30, your fertility will start to decline, and it will be less likely that you’ll be able to get pregnant.1
Discuss Freezing Your Eggs with a Fertility Specialist near Crystal Lake IL Today
If you are interested in discussing egg freezing with a fertility specialist near Crystal Lake, IL, schedule an appointment at your local InVia Fertility clinic. Our fertility specialists can review what to expect from the egg-freezing process and help you determine if it is the right reproductive plan for you. Contact us to schedule an appointment today.
1 https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/having-a-baby-after-age-35-how-aging-affects-fertility-and-pregnancy#:~:text=A%20woman's%20peak%20reproductive%20years,getting%20pregnant%20naturally%20is%20unlikely.
