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Wellness Wednesday – Success With Egg Freezing

At Genesis, supporting our patients through successful treatment is our top priority. This applies to all the procedures we perform at our centre, including egg freezing.

Egg freezing is a delicate process and its success rates are highly dependent on method and experience. Thanks to our talented and seasoned team we have managed to achieve high success rates (Table 1).

Genesis Fertility Egg Freezing Success Rates

Most women do not return for their frozen eggs for many years, so the number of women who have attempted to become pregnant from these eggs is limited. For this reason, quality assurance in the egg survival process is paramount, and has helped us achieve a thawed egg survival rate of 95%.

Delayed Childbearing

An increasing number of women are interested in having children later in life for a variety of reasons:

  • Meeting the right life partner
  • Focusing on education and career development
  • Seeking financial stability prior t o having a child

When a woman is in her late 30s or older, there is a decreased chance of pregnancy and an increased chance of pregnancy loss and chromosomal abnormalities. Women can now choose to freeze their eggs through vitrification at Genesis.

Patients with Cancer

Advances in cancer treatment have increased survival rates over the past decades. However, many cancer treatments can permanently affect fertility for both men and women. In women, cancer treatment may deplete the number of eggs in the ovaries and trigger early menopause. If you will be receiving chemotherapy imminently, your doctor may refer you and you will be seen within 24 to 48 hours to discuss your fertility options.

Fertility can be preserved through the freezing of sperm, eggs and embryos. Our team works closely with oncology teams to ensure any fertility treatment is safe.

Genesis Fertility Centre helped Anna freeze her embryos to use after her cancer treatment

 

Steps to Egg Freezing

Women who elect to freeze their eggs undergo the same initial steps as an IVF treatment cycle. Vitrified eggs are then banked and can be stored for many years. Women are encouraged to access this treatment prior to age 38 to increase the chance of pregnancy when their eggs are thawed, fertilized and transferred at a time in their life when pregnancy is desired. We have observed success of frozen eggs up to age 38 but consider patients on a case by case basis up to 42.

Our medical director Dr. Sonya Kashyap recently penned a detailed article for the Huffington Post entitled “Egg Freezing Deserves Serious Consideration.” The article provides detailed background information on the fertility procedure and how it applies to Canadians.

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