Preserve Fertility
Fertility preservation (oocyte cryopreservation)
The success of any cryopreservation technique (freezing of oocytes) is based on the possibility of achieving live births in a proportion similar to that achieved with fresh oocytes. A series of variables dependent on the technique and the patient are involved in this process, such as:
Personal reasons
This is given the patient’s own need or desire to undergo cryopreservation
Medical reasons
- Cancer
- Other diseases that require chemo or immunotherapy
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Endometriosis
- Low ovarian reserve
- Bilateral or unilateral ovariectomy (removal of the ovaries)
Oocyte vitrification or “freezing” is an assisted reproduction technique that consists of obtaining the woman’s eggs to preserve them at very low temperatures (-196°C) for an indefinite period of time.
This method is mainly used to preserve female fertility for medical reasons already mentioned above or in women who want to delay becoming mothers. However, egg vitrification is also used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments that require cryopreservation of the oocytes prior to fertilization.
The main advantage of egg vitrification is that the oocyte quality is maintained for as long as the oocytes remain vitrified. This means that the eggs will have the same quality as they had at the time of being vitrified when the woman decides to use them.
The first step before starting a treatment to vitrify the eggs is to perform a vaginal ultrasound and a hormonal analysis on the woman. These tests will allow our specialist to assess the state of the patient’s ovarian reserve.
Subsequently, the patient has to go through a process of controlled ovarian stimulation, just as if she were going to undergo an IVF treatment. Our specialist will indicate to the patient the hormonal medication that she has to inject herself with in order for the ovaries to develop several follicles at the same time.
During this process, the patient has to attend check-ups to check through ultrasounds if the follicular growth is adequate. Depending on the ovarian response, the specialist can adjust the dose of hormonal medication and the days of treatment.
Finally, when most of the follicles have reached an adequate size, the specialist will schedule the follicular puncture to obtain the eggs.
Follicular puncture is a simple procedure in which, using an ultrasound-guided needle, our specialist aspirates the follicles to extract the eggs from inside. The follicular aspiration process lasts about 20-30 minutes and the patient is sedated to avoid discomfort.
After extracting the oocytes in the operating room, they are taken to the IVF laboratory. There, our embryologist evaluates their state of maturation and quality before proceeding to vitrification. To do this, it is necessary to decumulate the eggs, that is, remove the granulosa cells that are around them.
Once this is done, the most common method for vitrifying oocytes is the Cryotop. This is a support consisting of a plastic handle to which a transparent strip is attached. The egg will be adhered to this small strip after having been treated with cryoprotective substances.
When to plan fertility?
At 30 years of age we should know if we want to be parents, and between 30 and 35 we can plan the strategy, which can be aimed at spontaneous pregnancy in the short term or at preserving fertility through egg vitrification or sperm freezing, always before the age of 35. Delaying motherhood not only causes us to lose the best eggs in the early reproductive stages, which is around the age of 20, but it also causes a continuous expenditure of eggs and wear and tear on the reproductive organs.
From the age of 30, female fertility begins to decline, but from the age of 35, this decline becomes very pronounced, so that at the age of 40, the possibility of becoming pregnant naturally is only 5% in each cycle, while the risk of abnormal embryos also increases.
