Egg freezing: the new wave in family planning

By Dr. Shobha Gupta

Hindustan Times - HT Cafe

There is no iota of doubt that the field of medicine has gained much appreciation and came up with advance technologies to combat infertility through IVF (in vitreo fertilization) which is very very common now. Frozen eggs also has gained popularity since few years and especially when in a 2014 tech conglomerates Apple and Facebook announced that they will pay the bill of egg freezing process of their female employees. They took the decision to attract more female employees and maintain their retention rates so they may have prolonged careers (news piece published by The Guardian, UK)

Freezing eggs means preserving your eggs in specialized laboratories of IVF centre. As you age the quality of eggs starts declining. Women can have their own eggs froze and can use whenever they plan family. Storing your eggs may enable you to use them for treatment in the future.

It benefits specifically the older women: Let’s say a couple has a baby through IVF and the couple froze some of the eggs for future use. When she returns in a few years for an frozen egg transfer for her second baby, her ovaries and eggs will have aged and her fertility will have statistically
decreased somewhat, but her frozen eggs then combined with sperm and formed embryos are just as good cellularly as they were when she was younger.

Besides a prosperous career, the uncertainty of marriage and fear of infertility are two major factors contributing to this trend. Also the number and quality of eggs decline with the increase in age, hence the best time to freeze your eggs is in your 20s or early 30s (ideally below 35 years). Younger the eggs, higher the chances of conceiving. But due to less awareness about egg freezing, women usually consider this option at a later stage. 

If a woman waits until she is 40 before trying to have children, she may need several rounds of IVF to conceive, which adds up monetarily. Also, at the age of 40 there is no guarantee that she will become pregnant even with IVF as her eggs are of far poorer quality. On the other hand, if she freezes her eggs at the age of 30 and then has them re- inserted ten years later, the chances of a baby are three to five times greater.

Of course every coin has 2 aspects. Egg freezing also has its own pros and cons. Let’s have a look at it.

Pros of egg freezing are: 

• It is very beneficial for infertile couples(secondary infertility), single parent, aged couples or cancer patients can benefit with frozen eggs the most. 
• Many couples who work for IT firms, BPO’s and in management backgrounds are busy with their careers and delay the baby-making process, thereby, giving them a reason to opt for freezing their sperms or eggs.
• If a woman waits until she is 40 before trying to have children, she may need several rounds of IVF to conceive, which adds up monetarily. Also, at the age of 40 there is no guarantee that she will become pregnant even with IVF as her eggs are of far poorer quality. On the other hand, if she freezes her eggs at the age of 30 and then has them re- inserted ten years later, the chances of a baby are three to five times greater.
• Besides a prosperous career, the uncertainty of marriage and fear of infertility are two other major factors contributing to this trend.

Cons of egg freezing are:

• Egg freezing is a costly procedure and has been adopted in India in last 2 yrs only. We can say that Egg freezing is only for Upper class rich people, it is surely not for general population.
• Secondly, the chances of doing multiple cycles are very high as you may not conceive in single cycle. The success rate is approx 40% but it varies from clinic to clinic. 
• Thirdly, the awareness ratio in India about egg freezing is very less. Younger eggs yield higher the chances of conceiving. But due to less awareness about egg freezing, women usually consider this option at a later stage.