Egg Freezing

Ovo freezing, also known as ovo storage, is a method of preserving fertility potential in women.

The ovos are grown with drugs and taken from the ovaries and frozen for later use. When desired, these ovos are thawed and combined with sperm, the embryo is obtained, and pregnancy is achieved by placing it in the uterus.

As is known, female fertility decreases with age. The quality of the ovos decreasing with age also decreases. While a woman's ovos slowly decrease until the age of 35, they begin to deplete rapidly in later years, when the woman reaches the age of 40, the number of eggs, which decreases considerably in terms of number and quality, is almost completely exhausted at age 45. If the ovos are exhausted, it is not possible to get another pregnancy. But this is not always the case. Sometimes this occurs before the age of 40, and ovos can be depleted at a much younger age and can be premature menopause.

Egg storage procedure;

• It can be applied to whom with early menopause history in the family, especially such as the mother, sister, aunt
• To young women with low egg reserve and early menopause risk
• In the case of cancer or any disease that may reduce fertility potential, patients who will be subjected to procedures that can directly destroy fertility such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy

Early cancers are increasing, and many of these patients are either not yet having children or want to have children again. Today, by applying different drug methods and techniques, ovos can be obtained without delaying the existing cancer treatments and without adversely affecting cancer disease and these can be stored for the future. These patients must get consultation before cancer treatment.

In addition to the above-mentioned risk factors, the risk of early menopause and the decrease in the number of ovos increases in women who smoke. 

In addition to smokers, the risk of premature menopause and the prolongation of the length of women's expert advice about this method may increase the chances of having a baby in the future.

In addition, all women to determine the reserve of the ovo and to predict the status of the ovo ultrasonographically to check the size and content of the ovaries, as well as various hormones such as AMH to measure the ovarian function may be unaware of an early menopause may develop beforehand, even if they do not think in the future with an ovo freeze will help them maintain their chances of owning a baby.

Women who postpone having children due to the stresses of business life, career, future worries or who do not have suitable conditions for pregnancy at the moment, especially those who smoke and have early menopause in their families, will be helpful to consult their physicians about whether ovo storage method is suitable for them or not.

Egg Freezing in Female Cancers

Increasing survival rates of women under the age of 45 cancers increased the demand for fertility protection. Vitrification of oocytes after the diagnosis of cancer; After treatment, it is possible to postpone pregnancy by having the same reproductive potential until it is free of disease. It is very important to obtain information and recommendations for the protection of fertility in patients who will receive chemotherapy with cancer.

When a cancer patient decides to freeze his oocytes, age, ovarian function, ovarian reserve, and time remaining for treatment before chemotherapy become important. 

The preservation success of fertility will depend largely on the number of well-frozen oocytes. Pregnancy with frozen oocytes cannot be guaranteed with this method. However, assisted reproductive techniques will be a hope for the patient. 

Egg Freezing Procedure

Oocyte freezing and treatment is started on the 2nd or 3rd day of menstruation of the patient admitted to our center. Following hormone treatment to stimulate the ovaries, oocyte retrieval is performed. The collected oocytes are frozen by means of special solutions called cryoprotectants and placed in liquid nitrogen at -196 ° C until the day of fertilization. 

Results

In our center, oocyte freezing is carried out by rapid freezing technique (vitrification) as in embryo freezing. With the development of solutions and techniques used in the method, pregnancy rates approached the pregnancy rates obtained by fresh trial. As the rate of genetic anomalies in oocytes frozen at younger ages is lower than in older age oocytes, the chance of success increases. Studies have reported that at least 8-10 mature oocytes are required for successful freezing. However, these numbers should be determined according to the patient after 36 years of age.