Egg (Oocyte) Freezing
Egg (OOCYTE) freezing is a method that women who are considering having children in the future, but do not wish to give birth at the moment can resort to. Eggs collected from the ovary are frozen and stored for future use and can be thawed at any time.
One of the main obstacles to women having a child is the decline in ovarian reserve and ovarian quality that comes with age. Scientific studies and current treatment results show that the chance of having children is severely reduced for women over 40 years of age. Moreover, many women diagnosed with low ovarian reserve or early menopause experience this fear of not having children at an earlier age. Thanks to the egg freezing technique, women can freeze their eggs without losing their reproductive ability and have babies using these eggs in the future.
– when the person will be undergoing radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, which are harmful to the reproductive cells, following a cancer diagnosis
– when a serious surgical operation will lead to the loss of reproductive functions
– when a single woman, who is not planning to get married anytime soon, is diagnosed with low ovarian reserve
• Patients who will undergo a surgical operation (such as ovary removal) that will result in the loss of reproductive functions
• Women who have a family history of early menopause, or who have low ovarian reserve and have never been pregnant
• Women who are career-focused and do not wish to have babies before their 30s.
Egg collection procedure: When the size of the follicle reaches the desired level, egg collection is carried out with a needle inserted through the vagina with ultrasound imaging. This procedure is painless under general anaesthesia and takes approximately 15 minutes. The patient is discharged within 2-3 hours and can continue her daily life.
Egg freezing procedure: The eggs are frozen through the vitrification technique, free of water crystals. Frozen eggs are stored in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196 degrees Celsius.
Who can we perform egg freezing for?
The revised regulation legally permits egg freezing under the following conditions, among others:– when the person will be undergoing radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, which are harmful to the reproductive cells, following a cancer diagnosis
– when a serious surgical operation will lead to the loss of reproductive functions
– when a single woman, who is not planning to get married anytime soon, is diagnosed with low ovarian reserve
When is egg freezing recommended?
• Patients who must undergo treatments damaging the egg cells, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy• Patients who will undergo a surgical operation (such as ovary removal) that will result in the loss of reproductive functions
• Women who have a family history of early menopause, or who have low ovarian reserve and have never been pregnant
• Women who are career-focused and do not wish to have babies before their 30s.
How is the egg freezing procedure performed?
For the egg freezing procedure to be performed, ovaries need to be stimulated with hormones. Treatment begins on the second or third day of the menstruation and lasts about 12-15 days. Collected eggs are frozen in the laboratory using a special method called vitrification and stored for later use.Egg Freezing Procedure Step by Step:
Follow-up: The patient consulting our centre prior to treatment needs to visit our centre again on the second day of the menstruation, when the treatment begins. The patient is given ovary-stimulating hormones so as to produce more eggs than usual. During the follow-up period, the patient needs to come to our centre for an examination 3-5 times. During each visit, the patient is examined, hormone levels are checked, and drug doses are adjusted according to these findings.Egg collection procedure: When the size of the follicle reaches the desired level, egg collection is carried out with a needle inserted through the vagina with ultrasound imaging. This procedure is painless under general anaesthesia and takes approximately 15 minutes. The patient is discharged within 2-3 hours and can continue her daily life.
Egg freezing procedure: The eggs are frozen through the vitrification technique, free of water crystals. Frozen eggs are stored in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196 degrees Celsius.
