Care Fertility Centre Helps With Egg Freezing
Have you always wanted to have children but want to focus on your career for the time being? Perhaps you aren’t financially stable to raise a child yet. Delaying pregnancy is often the best option for mothers, fathers, and the child themselves. However, delaying pregnancy can mean your eggs become older and less effective. The reality is, your biological clock just might not lineup with your timeline. Never fear—new technology makes it possible to freeze your eggs early and preserve them for when you’re ready to have children. Care Fertility Centre in Ottawa is here to guide Our fertility team can answer all your questions and give you peace of mind.
Learn More About Egg Freezing
When heard out of context, egg freezing sounds like a procedure of the future. However, it is very much possible today. Before you commit to this reproductive option, be sure you understand the facts. Care Fertility Centre is here to make sure you have all the information. Browse the following facts about egg freezing before you make your decision:
Fertility tends to decline around age 30. Women are born with around four million eggs, but by age 30, that number decreases to about 100,000.
By menopause or age 45, most women have very few viable eggs left.
In-vitro fertilization’s success rate using frozen eggs is much higher if you freeze your eggs at a younger age.
The egg freezing cycle takes only two weeks, and the procedure itself takes 20 minutes. You’ll visit us a few times throughout your During this time, you can maintain your normal schedule and return to work the day after the procedure.
Egg retrieval comes with minimum discomfort under light anesthesia.
Eggs can be frozen at our fertility clinic for an unlimited length of time. They’ll see no decrease in quality over time, so you have plenty of time to try natural conception.
Contrary to popular belief, egg freezing is not an experimental procedure and is widely used across North America.
Deciding If Egg Freezing Is Right for You
Egg freezing isn’t right for everyone. If you’re over the age of 40, we generally discourage egg freezing, as the eggs may no longer be viable. Most suitable candidates for this procedure fall between the ages of 25 and 37. Other motives for choosing to freeze your eggs include a family history of menopause and pre-existing medical conditions that reduce your chances of a healthy pregnancy. Generally speaking, egg freezing might be right for anyone looking to delay having children. Before you write off egg freezing as a way of postponing pregnancy, talk to the team at Care Fertility Centre.
Explore Our Frequently Asked Questions
Because egg freezing is such an innovative procedure, it’s natural to have numerous questions. At our fertility clinic, we want to give each patient peace of mind when it comes to this method of conception. We’ve compiled some of our most frequently asked questions below for your convenience:
Q: Is There a “Best Age” to Freeze My Eggs?
A: In general, the younger you are when you choose egg freezing, the better. You can attempt to freeze your eggs at an older age, but women over the age of 37 will need a much more time-consuming process to retrieve healthy eggs.
Q: Can I Become Pregnant With Frozen Eggs?
A: Through in-vitro fertilization, it’s very possible to become pregnant with frozen eggs. Although many women are unfamiliar with this method on how to get pregnant, egg freezing has been in use for decades.
Q: How Many Eggs Should I Freeze?
A: For most patients, we recommend freezing around 20 eggs. Not every egg will result in pregnancy, and we want to make sure you have enough frozen eggs if you choose to have more than one child.
Q: Will All My Eggs Be Used at Once?
A: At Care Fertility Centre, we typically thaw all the available eggs to maximise the number of embryos created, and therefore maximise your chances of pregnancy.
Q: I Have Cancer. Is Egg Freezing for Me?
A: Egg freezing can be an excellent solution for women with cancer that might threaten their ovaries. If you’re starting chemotherapy or radiation soon, we can fast-track your treatment and begin the two-week egg freezing process right away. This is available for a reduced fee and can even be partially covered by OHIP.
Why Choose Care Fertility Centre?
Exploring the methods of how to get pregnant is stressful, but the Care Fertility Centre is here to help. We aim to make the process less burdensome and more streamlined to simplify your experience with us. We understand getting pregnant is an emotional process as well as a physical one, so our staff is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care with compassion. Our high level of expertise allows us to be the only fertility clinic in Canada to offer financing options to our patients without compromising quality. Plus, we offer flexible appointment times to help accommodate you.
Visit Our Team for Egg Freezing in Ottawa
No matter why you want to delay conception, Care Fertility Centre is here for you every step of the way. We understand all the considerations that go into this decision, and we’ll help monitor ovulation and pregnancy symptoms. If you’re interested in egg freezing for any reason, please contact us in Ottawa today.
Is It right for me?
Generally speaking, egg freezing is suggested for women:
Seeking to preserve eggs to extend their fertility in the future
Between ages 25 and 37
Who aren’t ready to have children right now
With a family history of early menopause
Facing medical treatments like chemotherapy
Wishing to delay having another child
Looking to overcome complications associated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy
With certain medical conditions such as ovarian cysts
Age & Fertility
Female fertility begins to decline in a woman’s late twenties, and the continued loss of eggs associated with this decline results in increased rates of miscarriage, chromosomal (genetic) abnormalities, and infertility (especially for women older than thirty-five). Egg freezing affords a woman the opportunity to use ‘younger’ eggs whenever she decides she would like to become pregnant. This allows her to avoid the decreased fertility and increased miscarriage rates associated with advanced age.
Because of this, as a general rule of thumb, earlier is better when it comes to selecting a time to freeze your eggs. Younger eggs offer better chances of a successful pregnancy, no matter when you decide to use the eggs.
Optimum egg freezing age is 25-37 when you have the highest ovarian reserve
Your ovaries age with you and your number of usable eggs declines
Your uterus remains healthy and able to support the pregnancy until about age 50
You lock in your chance of a successful future pregnancy at the age your eggs are retrieved; if you freeze your eggs at age 28 and use them at age 39, your success rate is that of a 28-year old
Egg freezing after age 37 is still an option, but you may need multiple IVF cycles to get the recommended number of eggs
Egg Freezing Facts
As with many reproductive options, there are both facts and myths surrounding egg freezing. Understanding the facts can help you make informed decisions about your reproductive health and fertility options.
Female fertility begins to decline around age thirty, with a more significant drop in both egg quantity and quality after age thirty-five. At birth, women have nearly four million eggs, but this number decreases to about 400,000 by puberty and drops to around 100,000 by age thirty. By forty, the number of eggs is close to zero.
Menopause, typically occurring around age forty-five, marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years, with very few healthy egg-producing follicles remaining. Any remaining follicles often fail to mature fully due to hormonal changes.
Freezing your eggs at a younger age enhances the likelihood of a successful pregnancy later. The success rate for IVF with frozen eggs depends on when the eggs were harvested, not when they are used. If you freeze your eggs at thirty and use them at forty, you'll effectively be using eggs from when you were thirty. We generally advise against freezing eggs over the age of forty.
An egg freezing cycle takes about two weeks, during which you can continue your regular activities. The process involves light medications and a few office visits. The retrieval procedure, which lasts about twenty minutes, is done under light anesthesia, and you can resume your usual activities the next day.
Eggs can be frozen indefinitely without any decrease in quality. We recommend attempting natural conception first and using frozen eggs if needed. Egg freezing can serve as a valuable "backup plan" for future pregnancies or even for additional children.
Vitrification, the advanced technique for egg freezing, offers high success rates. Since the birth of the first baby from a frozen egg in 1986, egg freezing has been widely accepted and is now a standard practice. Vitrification, or flash freezing, is a more effective method than traditional cryopreservation, with thawed eggs having similar success rates to fresh IVF cycles.
Throughout the egg freezing process, you will need 3 to 5 brief office visits to monitor your progress and schedule the egg retrieval. The retrieval is minimally uncomfortable and takes about twenty minutes, with light anesthesia. Most women can return to work the next day.
We offer the following benefits to egg-freezing patients:
Thawing frozen eggs is an incredibly important aspect of the egg-freezing program, as this is a very sensitive technique that can decrease your chances of conception if the right practitioner is not performing the thaw. At Care Fertility, we have a depth and breadth of experience with thawing that is unparalleled.
We offer financing programs for elective egg freezing.
We designed a streamlined process to simplify your experience while maintaining the highest levels of quality.
Flexible appointment times are available.
Initial Consultation
The first step in your egg-freezing journey is to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced fertility specialists. During this initial appointment, our specialists will discuss your needs, explain the egg-freezing process in detail, and answer any questions. This personalized consultation is designed to help you make informed decisions and ensure you are comfortable and confident as you embark on this important step towards preserving your fertility.
Fertility Testing
In the second step, our fertility specialists will prescribe several essential fertility tests to determine the likelihood of successful egg freezing. These tests typically include an Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) test, among others, to assess your ovarian reserve and overall reproductive health.
Procedure
After completing the tests, you will begin a personalized treatment plan to maximize the number of eggs retrieved. This procedure aims to ensure the maximum viable viable eggs for freezing.
