Cryopreservation of embryos

Eggs freezing

Egg freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is a method used to save women's ability to get pregnant in the future.

   You might consider egg freezing if:

• You have a condition or circumstance that can affect your fertility. These might include sickle cell anemia, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, and gender diversity, such as being transgender.
• You need treatment for cancer or another illness that can affect your ability to get pregnant. Certain medical treatments — such as radiation or chemotherapy — can harm your fertility. Egg freezing before treatment might enable you to have biological children later.
• You're undergoing in vitro fertilization. When undergoing in vitro fertilization, some people prefer egg freezing to embryo freezing for religious or ethical reasons.
• You wish to preserve younger eggs now for future use.

Single women or women wishing to delay childbearing due to career/social reasons may decide that they want to preserve their fertility at an optimum time in their reproductive life, in preparation for treatment later on. If freezing for social reasons it is advisable to freeze your eggs whilst you are younger in age as the quality and quantity of your eggs declines with age.

Cryopreservation of eggs or embryos both start the same basic way: with hormone medication, injected over for 8–12 days, that stimulates the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. Some of these eggs can be fertilized and frozen for future use. Only mature eggs go through the cryopreservation process.

For the best chance of success at live birth in the future, it is best to freeze your eggs or embryos in 30-35 years. They can be frozen and stored until you're ready to get pregnant.

Sperm freezing

Sperm freezing is the process of collecting, analyzing, freezing and storing a man’s sperm. The samples are later used for fertility treatments or donated to other couples or individuals, including same sex female partners. This overall process is known as cryopreservation and is sometimes referred to as sperm banking.

The primary benefits of freezing sperm are to allow a man to preserve his fertility by using his sperm at a later date or to give an infertile couple, an infertile individual or a lesbian couple a chance to conceive.

Common reasons to choose to freeze sperm:

• Advancing age.
• Deteriorating sperm quality or low quantity.
• Cancer or other medical reasons.
• Pre-vasectomy patients.
• Transgender patients.
• Career and lifestyle choices, such as those with high-risk occupations or who spend a lot of time away from their significant other.