Egg Freezing FAQ: When Should I Freeze My Eggs?

Egg freezing is a process in which a woman’s eggs are harvested from her ovaries and frozen (in a process called oocyte vitrification), and stored in a liquid nitrogen chamber until the woman would like to achieve a pregnancy. A woman’s ability to conceive declines with age but egg freezing is an effective method for preserving or extending her reproductive potential.

The process takes about 9-11 days of ovarian stimulation with fertility medications followed by the egg retrieval procedure 2 days later. Patients can go on with their routine schedules over this 11-13 day process and only need to take the day of retrieval off of work.

Should you freeze your eggs?

woman talking to her friend about egg freezing

There are many reasons why women delay childbearing. Women opt to freeze their eggs for several reasons:

  • They may not have found their life partner
  • To delay starting a family
  • To preserve their fertility before beginning cancer surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.
  • To avoid the creation and freezing of extra embryos after an IVF cycle.

Life circumstances may also influence your decision to freeze your eggs. For some women, knowing they have preserved eggs brings them peace of mind in a time of life that may not be the ideal time to become pregnant. Many women with demanding careers or the inflexibility of academic calendars may wish to delay family building. Here are a few guidelines to help you determine whether you are an appropriate candidate for egg freezing:

  • You are in your 20s to mid-30s. (Women over the age of 37 may consider egg freezing on a case-by-case basis).
  • You would like to start a family, but aren’t quite ready and would like to preserve your ability to have children later.

Women may also choose to freeze their eggs if they have a medical condition (malignancy) that could potentially harm their fertility. Here are some reasons in which egg freezing would be a viable option for preserving a woman’s ability to have a baby:

  • You are newly diagnosed with a cancer, which may threaten your fertility.
  • Your planned medical treatments involve chemicals that have been linked to infertility.
  • You’ve been diagnosed with early ovarian insufficiency.

When should you freeze your eggs?

When it comes to your egg supply, age is a factor, since the quality and quantity of eggs rapidly deteriorate after age 35. Egg freezing allows you to preserve the optimal years of your fertility when you’re ready to conceive later in life.

As a woman, you are born with all the eggs you will ever have. With time, your eggs decrease in both numbers and cellular integrity. This decline is in large part why women in their 40s have only about a five percent chance of becoming pregnant each month. So, to answer the question, 'at what age should I freeze my eggs?' the simple answer is: Freeze your eggs in your prime reproductive years of your 20s and early 30s. This allows you to take advantage of premium egg quality and quantity.

If you know you want to start a family someday, but the time isn’t ideal for you right now, contact Reproductive Gynecology & Infertility to explore your options. In addition to providing expert IVF treatments and other solutions for infertility in Columbus, we also offer egg freezing in Columbus, Youngstown, Akron and Canton, Ohio. We will present the facts about egg freezing—how it works, the limitations and the likelihood of a successful outcome.

What You Need To Know About Egg Freezing

In 2018, the New York Times reported more than 20,000 American women elected to freeze their eggs. This number has risen sharply since 2009, when there were only 475 women freezing their eggs. The process of egg freezing involves stimulating the ovaries with hormones to produce multiple eggs. Once the eggs are mature, they are retrieved from the ovaries, taken to the lab and cooled to sub-zero temperatures. Frozen eggs can be stored for over 10 years, until you’re ready to start a family.

What's the process of egg freezing?

If you’re considering cryopreservation, or egg freezing, here are a few things you need to know:

  • The timing – Generally, fertility begins to decline in your late 20s or early 30s and falls more rapidly after the age of 35. Consider freezing your eggs sooner rather than later, to ensure you are giving your future self the best chance at having a baby.
  • The process – Egg freezing typically involves 8-11 days of hormone injections to stimulate your ovaries, 5-7 doctor appointments, blood draws and transvaginal ultrasound exams.
  • The medications – The specialized hormone medications will not be available at your local pharmacy. Instead, your reproductive endocrinologist will recommend a pharmacy that specializes in medications for egg freezing and other fertility treatments.
  • The procedure – Once your eggs are mature, you will be placed under mild anesthesia so your physician can retrieve them during a brief 10-15 minute surgical procedure. Using ultrasound guidance, a needle is inserted through the vaginal wall into each ovary. The needle is attached to a catheter that’s connected to a test tube.
  • The egg freezing – Once the eggs are successfully retrieved, your physician will hand them over to a skilled embryologist who, using a fast-freezing method called vitrification, will transform the eggs into a glass-like frozen state and store them in a liquid nitrogen storage chamber until they’re needed.

What's the egg freezing timeline?

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The he basic steps and how it works.

  • Consultation (~1 hour): Discuss patient's medical history and ask questions.
  • Testing (~30 minutes): Undergo ultrasound and lab tests.
  • Reviewing Results (~30 minutes): Treatment team goes over the results with you.
  • Medication and Monitoring (10-12 days): Receive fertility shots and regular monitoring.
  • Egg Retrieval (~1 hour): Anesthesia is administered, and eggs are retrieved for freezing.
  • Recovery (4-5 days): Take time to recover from any discomfort or bloating.
  • After retrieving the eggs, patients can consult their physician regarding additional egg-freezing cycles. Once the eggs are frozen, patients have the freedom to plan their family according to their own timeline and can return for an IVF cycle when they are ready.

Start Your Family When You’re Ready With Egg Freezing In Columbus

We are proud to say that Reproductive Gynecology & Infertility has achieved successes where others have not. From egg freezing to IVF and more, we provide individual infertility solutions with the utmost compassion, convenience and commitment.

If you are interested in egg freezing in Ohio, contact the fertility specialists at Reproductive Gynecology & Infertility. We are ready to help you build your family. Call 866-537-2461 to schedule your appointment today.

What Our Patients Say About Us

There is no one better than Dr. Maseelall❤️ She gave us two little miracles at once!! Thankful for the family she helped us create!!
We were patients of Dr Nash but Dr Jain did my egg retrieval and we are so thankful for him and his part in helping us grow our family! ❤️
So appreciative of Dr. Maseelall! Always so kind during our journey and ready to listen to me. That was important to us. She helped bring us our miracle!
So grateful for Dr. Nash who gave us our sweet 15 month old! He’s the most straightforward yet compassionate Dr and I loved working with him! ♥️♥️
Dr Nash!!!!! There aren’t enough words to describe our thankfulness and appreciation for you. We have our sweet Charlotte because of you. Thank you, thank you!!!!!! -Angela and Dan Gossard (2022)
What an amazing and rewarding event to put on! It’s not often the the doctors and nurses get to see the end result. Seeing so many pictures of the families you’ve helped build is just amazing! So thankful for Dr. Jain and his staff for giving us our blessing!
RGI made our dreams come true! And Samantha’s gift of hope….there really aren’t words to express how they changed our lives. We won their grant in 2019 and it has continued to bless us several years later. Every time we make a financial decision I think of SGH and how I don’t know if it’d be possible if it wasn’t for them.
RGI and Samantha’s Gift of Hope has forever changed our lives in the best way possible because they have given us the greatest gift we could ever get—our sweet daughter. We have this joy of being parents we had previously only dreamed about, and honestly weren’t sure we would ever have. Now, everyday is filled with baby giggles and snuggles, cheering her on to her next milestone (which is currently crawling), and trying to be the best parents we can be. We will never be able to repay RGI and Samantha’s Gift of Hope, but we will forever be grateful to them and are daily reminded of it.
RGI made it possible for us to experience the joys of becoming parents. There is no greater feeling or love in this world that we’ve experienced than bringing Liam into this world. We truly understand the miracle and blessings babies are. SGOH we will forever feel grateful for. We cannot thank Lisa, Matt and Sam enough for their generosity and helping couples pay towards their IVF journeys. Honestly, SGOH really does provide HOPE. Winning the grant also helped us to feel like this is really happening, it’s meant to be.
Because of Samantha’s Gift of Hope, our dream of having a child came true. We could focus more on each step of the process and keep a positive attitude through it all instead of constantly worrying about what things cost and how we would make it work. Now, our sweet Tenley girl is 1 week old and I continue to be thankful each day for the opportunity Samantha’s Gift of Hope gave us. We are now living out our favorite roles as mom and dad and are filled with so much love for our little girl!
“RGI is amazing, start to finish. They never make you feel anything but comfortable. Thank you all for your compassion and care!”
“Thank you for everything the RGI team has done for our family! Everyone has been amazing, and we are grateful for your skills.”
“A wonderful place! I would highly recommend RGI to anyone who is in the same position as me and my husband.”
“Thank you! Everyone is extremely caring and professional. I wouldn’t go anywhere else!”
“RGI went above and beyond to make my husband and me comfortable and happy with the care they gave us!”
“We had a wonderful experience with the RGI staff during our IVF cycle. All staff were kind, friendly and very informative! We felt comfortable at every visit and each procedure. The staff at RGI are wonderful and made our IVF journey a great experience. We are so thankful!”

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