EGG FREEZING
What is Egg Freezing Process? Who Can Do It?
Egg freezing makes it possible to have a baby even at a later age, making it a beacon of hope for expectant mothers who dream of having children. The freezing of eggs paves the way for women, who postpone having children particularly due to a career plan or since they are in the process of treatment to cure diseases such as cancer, to become mothers when the conditions are appropriate.
What is egg freezing?
Today, in cases where there is a possibility of decreased egg capacity, elderly age or damage in ovaries, freezing the eggs obtained by stimulating the ovaries and storing them for use by in vitro fertilization method when desired in the future is called "egg freezing".
In which situations and to whom is egg freezing made?
Egg freezing has recently given women who have postponed having children, particularly because of their careers, the chance to become mothers. With the regulation published by the Ministry of Health in 2014, the freezing of eggs was allowed under some special conditions in order to protect the fertility of women. For the purpose of preserving reproductive capacity before cancer treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy that may lead to infertility, preoperative operations that may lead to a decrease or loss of ovarian reserve, in case of a history of early menopause in the family (such as the mother, aunt, sister), and in case of presence of a disease requiring the removal of the ovaries, the egg freezing can be performed.
What are the advantages of egg freezing?
The biggest advantage of egg freezing is that it provides the chance to continue to be a mother for women of elder age who have postponed marriage or have a baby for various reasons or due to their career in working life.
In addition, the chance to become a mother is maintained for patients with cancer who are at risk of losing their eggs due to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
How is egg freezing applied?
In the egg freezing process, the egg collection is performed under anesthesia by stimulating the ovaries in a controlled manner by medication treatment that lasts approximately 10-12 days. Egg collection can be performed vaginally or abdominally depending on the patient's condition. After this process, the collected egg cells are frozen by the vitrification (fast) freezing method. Frozen egg cells can be stored at -196 C for 5 years in special storage tanks containing liquid nitrogen.
Prepared by the Medical Editorial Board. Our health library contents have been prepared for informational purposes only and with the scientific content on the registration date. For all your questions, concerns, diagnosis or treatment about your health, please consult your doctor or health institution.
