Should I Freeze My Eggs?

Egg freezing, also referred to as fertility preservation or cryopreservation, is gaining in popularity. More and more women have come to the conclusion that instead of worrying about whether they will be able to have a child using their own eggs, they can use the technology egg freezing provides to ensure they can have a child of their own when they are ready to do so.

Egg freezing involves the cryopreservation of eggs, but fertility preservation on the whole can include the cryopreservation of embryos and sperm as well.

There are a lot of reasons, typically social or medical, why a woman would choose to freeze her eggs. Here are a few examples of each:

A woman may decide to preserve her fertility by having her eggs frozen because she –

Has concerns about how her age will affect the quantity and quality of her eggs
Is not yet ready to have children due to personal goals, such as her career
Has yet to find a partner with whom she’d like to build a family
Has a family history of early menopause
Is facing a recent cancer diagnosis - cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy can negatively affect a person’s fertility potential.

Whether your motivations for freezing your eggs are social or medical, egg freezing can provide a deep sense of relief for many women. Women face a tremendous amount of pressure to start a family, and even though it is essential that you only start a family when you are truly ready and want to do so, this can be hampered by factors beyond your control. Age and health status can play a critical role when it comes to your ability to conceive, and these issues can place additional pressure on women to “beat the biological clock.”

If you are curious about how you can use egg freezing to preserve your future family, or if you would like to schedule a consultation to discuss egg freezing with a fertility specialist, please contact Washington Fertility Center. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the fertility preservation process.