The term “fertility preservation” refers to a number of different medical procedures that include the freezing of a woman’s eggs, ovarian tissue, or embryos in order to save them for the possibility of future pregnancy. Because the patient wants to have children in the future, the procedure is considered “elective,” which simply means that it is the patient’s decision and not a requirement from a medical standpoint.
Egg “freezing,” also known as oocyte cryopreservation, is now a method that can assist in maintaining fertility. This method, which was once considered an experiment but is now accepted as a routine strategy to assist women who have delayed having children in maintaining their fertility, has recently gained approval. (In a different blog post, we discuss ways that newly diagnosed cancer patients can maintain their fertility.)
About getting pregnant
The way in which a woman’s body functions is quite dissimilar to the way in which a man’s body functions. However, women are born with all of the eggs that they will ever have, but males continue to produce sperm throughout their entire lives. The quantity of eggs a woman has available to be fertilised decreases as she gets older. In addition, as women age, their likelihood of having genetic errors increases as well. These shifts in a woman’s body begin to take place when she is in her early 20s, but they accelerate when she reaches her 30s. After the age of 35, a woman’s fertility begins to decline at an accelerated rate. This internal biological clock is something that each and every person is familiar with.
Why do people choose to preserve their fertility?
If you have certain diseases or conditions, it is possible that your future fertility will be affected. This could be the result of the condition itself, the surgery performed to treat the condition, or the medication that was prescribed to treat the condition. Studies have shown that ageing has a negative impact on fertility, thus individuals who prefer to postpone having children until their late 30s or 40s may choose to take steps to protect their fertility.
If you want children and are impacted by any of the following conditions, you might want to consider taking steps to maintain your fertility:
If you are planning to have children in the future but have not started trying yet, you might think about freezing your eggs or sperm before your fertility starts to drop. People may put off having children for a variety of reasons, including the aspiration to accomplish a particular professional objective, to advance in one’s education, or to find the ideal life partner.
Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are all treatment options for cancer that carry the risk of affecting a patient’s fertility.
Autoimmune disorders: Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases, as well as the therapy for those diseases, may lead to fertility issues.
Endometriosis and uterine fibroids are two disorders that can affect a woman’s ability to conceive a child and make it more challenging for her to do so.
Care for transgender individuals: Gender-affirming treatment has the potential to impact a person’s ability to have children. It is possible to preserve embryos, eggs, or sperm before beginning treatment.
Who is responsible for fertility preservation procedures?
You will receive direction and assistance throughout the procedure from both your primary care physician and a fertility expert. A fertility clinic is an option for you to seek treatment at. These facilities often have treatment spaces, a laboratory, and the necessary technology to keep specimens frozen for lengthy periods of time.
What are the different methods of preserving one’s fertility?
The following are the two categories that fertility preservation treatments fall under:
Extracting and preserving for later use eggs, embryos, sperm, and tissues by freezing them.
reducing the effects of cancer treatment on the patient’s reproductive tissues as much as possible.
strategies for preserving fertility in females and those whose gender at birth was determined to be female (DFAB).
- Egg freezing: It is a process in which hormones are administered to the patient in order to increase egg production in the ovaries. The eggs are collected by your provider, who then freezes and stores them. Similar to the process used to freeze eggs, the embryo freezing procedure requires the removal of eggs from the ovary. Embryos are created when the eggs are fertilised with the sperm of either your partner or a donor by your fertility clinic. The term for this type of operation is “in vitro fertilisation” (IVF). Your healthcare professional has the option of immediately implanting the embryos in your body or freezing and storing them for later use (embryo cryopreservation).
- Ovarian tissue freezing: If you are undergoing treatment for cancer, you may not be able to wait the two to six weeks required to receive hormone treatment. If this is the case, you may want to consider freezing your ovarian tissue. You have another option available, which is to have your ovarian tissue removed and frozen. If your cancer treatment is complete (once you have been given the all-clear from your doctor and are ready to conceive), your surgeon will reimplant the tissue that was previously frozen but thawed. If the tissue is able to reestablish its function, you may be able to conceive naturally or with the help of in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
- Ovarian transposition: It is also known as oophoropexy, is a surgical surgery that can help protect your ovaries from the side effects of radiation therapy. Your ovaries will be moved higher, out of your pelvis and into your belly, where they will be out of the way of the treatment region.
- Shielding from radiation: During radiation treatments, protecting your ovaries with a lead shield is an option. Additionally, your healthcare professional may make use of precision radiation technologies that lower the amount of radiation exposure to your ovaries.
On the other hand, recent breakthroughs in technology have made it feasible for women to collect and store eggs that have not yet been fertilised through a technique that is known as in vitro fertilisation (IVF). This strategy for preserving fertility provides women with a “backup plan” for having children in the event that they are unable to become pregnant through natural means. This choice is ideal for women who aren’t ready to start a family just yet, perhaps because they are focused on their professions or because they haven’t found their pair yet.
Even though eggs continue to have a lower quality as they become older, the quality of eggs that have been frozen relies on when they were removed from the uterus and frozen; this is not related to when the embryos are placed back into the uterus. To put it another way, the rate of success varies depending on your age at the time you freeze the eggs. Some people believe that this method and the freedom it affords women is a major transformation in society, comparable to the introduction of the birth control pill. Even while the technology is still very new and cutting edge, many experts believe that this will become a very regular approach for young women to boost their chances of having children in the not too distant future.
Who would be an excellent candidate for the conservation of fertility?
Anyone over the age of 30 who is interested in beginning a family in the not too distant future should consider fertility preservation. People whose families have a history of menopause starting early are also a suitable candidate for this procedure, as are women who may need to have their uterus and ovaries removed but who want to save their eggs. In addition, young women diagnosed with cancer now have new options thanks to fertility preservation because it is common knowledge that various cancer treatments can reduce a woman’s fertility.
What happens to the embryos, eggs, and sperm that have been frozen?
When you are ready to start trying to get pregnant, the frozen specimen will be thawed by your fertility experts. Your company that provides services:
- Your thawed eggs or sperm will be used to make embryos after the fertilisation process is finished.
- The newly fertilised or thawed embryos are then implanted into either your uterus or the uterus of another woman who will bear your baby for you (surrogate).
What are the benefits and risks of trying to preserve one’s fertility?
The primary benefit is that, despite your illness or situation, there is still a possibility that you will be able to have a kid of your own biological species.
The following are some of the potential adverse effects of fertility-preserving procedures:
- There is a risk of bleeding or infection associated with certain procedures that are used by providers to collect eggs and sperm.
- It’s possible that having a baby through in vitro fertilisation will increase your chances of having more than one, having a premature delivery, having a baby with a low birth weight, having a miscarriage, or having an ectopic pregnancy.
- Infection, haemorrhage, and damage to neighbouring organs and tissues are all risks associated with laparoscopic surgeries. These operations, which involve the use of anaesthesia, carry with them the risk of drug responses, nerve injury, and postoperative psychosis.
- Stimulation of the ovaries might lead to an increase in oestrogen levels. This can put you at a higher risk for developing blood clots as well as cancers that are dependent on oestrogen.
- The condition known as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome can be brought on by ovarian stimulation.
- The rotation of the ovaries that have been relocated as a result of ovarian transposition is possible. In addition, ovarian cysts are a possibility. Ovary removal is necessary in both of these cases (oophorectomy).
What are the chances that it will be successful?
Each mature egg has around a 5–10 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy, and in a typical IVF cycle with a young woman, more than 10–15 eggs are routinely extracted. Each egg has about a 5–10 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy. Therefore, preserving fertility does not in and of itself guarantee pregnancy; nonetheless, it is an excellent “insurance policy” to have in the event that natural conception is unsuccessful.
Final words
Elective egg freezing is a technique that, in spite of the numerous advancements in the field of female fertility that have occurred over the years, continues to gain favour. This approach, which has seen a significant increase in its success rates over the past few years, provides a number of advantages to individuals who wish to maintain the possibility of beginning a family in the not-too-distant future.