Preservation: Egg Freezing
See the Press Release regarding our Egg Freezing Study!
Carolina Conceptions has now received IRB approval to begin performing egg freezing on a trial basis. Patients who are interested in participating in the study will receive a significant cost reduction on their IVF cycle(s). To inquire about the details/qualifications of the program please contact our office to make an appointment.
Three groups of women are mostly likely to inquire about oocyte cryopreservation (freezing of their eggs):
- Women with a cancer diagnosis who want to preserve their eggs and fertility prior to undergoing chemotherapy
- Couples who are ethically opposed to the freezing of human embryos during their IVF cycle
- Women who are young but for various reasons are not able to pursue childbearing until later in their life and want to freeze eggs while they are still young.
The freezing of human eggs has been technologically challenging due to the large size of the egg and the large amount of cytoplasm (water) within the egg. Sperm, on the other hand, are much smaller as are embryos (fertilized eggs) and are much more amenable to the process of freezing and thawing. Pregnancy rates with cryopreserved and thawed embryos are excellent at 40-50% and have been available for decades.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) considers the freezing of eggs to be experimental and only recommends it for women undergoing cancer chemotherapy. It is also recommended that the freezing of eggs be conducted under an IRB (Institutional Review Board) although worldwide, over one thousand babies have been born using this technology.
One challenge involving egg freezing and thawing is that since all eggs do not survive the freeze and thaw process, it is necessary ideally to have a good number of eggs available if a woman intends to undergo this process. One way to assess the likelihood of adequate egg reserves for freezing is the AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) blood level. All resting eggs (antral follicles) make AMH and therefore this number reflects the pool of available resting eggs.
If you are interested in egg cryopreservation, please contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss if this procedure might be an appropriate option for you.