Egg and Embryo Freezing at PFCLA

Scientifically referred to as oocyte cryopreservation, egg and embryo freezing allows you to embark on your fertility journey in your own time, providing you with flexibility and reassurance. 

The Benefits of Egg and Embryo Freezing

Thanks to egg and embryo freezing, many women can pursue their education and careers without worrying about their biological clock. 

Proactively Plan Your Fertility Journey

Between facing societal and even family pressure to have children, it’s no wonder some women feel anxious about their fertility as they age. However, with egg and embryo freezing services, this fear can be mitigated. 

Egg and embryo freezing is an excellent approach for:

• Women who wish to preserve their fertility during cancer treatments that may decrease future fertility potential
• Women not ready to conceive, but who want the option to have their own biological children in the future

The Egg and Embryo Freezing Process

If you choose to freeze your eggs, the step-by-step process is straightforward and requires: 

1. Administered fertility injections to mature more eggs than in a natural cycle
2. Frequent blood work and ultrasound analysis to monitor egg production
3. The 30-minute egg retrieval procedure
4. The lab’s process to freeze the eggs (vitrification)

Access Advanced Egg Freezing Methods at PFCLA

Though a slow-freeze method for egg freezing exists, PFCLA only offers egg vitrification. The reason for this is simple: the faster alternative has shown to produce higher pregnancy rates. 

After vitrification, the eggs remain frozen until you’re ready to become pregnant, at which time the eggs are removed from the liquid nitrogen and thawed before being fertilized and placed in your uterus.

The Success Results of Egg Freezing: Trials & Studies

There are only a limited number of established pregnancies and deliveries derived from frozen eggs due to it being an advanced new service. This is why elective egg freezing is labeled as experimental by the ASRM and should be performed with a standardized protocol.

However, from the studies that have been performed looking at babies derived from frozen eggs, the results have shown: 

• No increase in abnormal or stray chromosomes
• A follow-up of 13 children conceived from frozen eggs showed no abnormalities in length of pregnancy, delivery, birth weight or organ formation
• An additional 3-year follow-up study of 16 children conceived from frozen eggs showed one case of a heart defect but no evidence of any intellectual or developmental deficits