Should Women Be Freezing Their Ovarian Tissue?
Today, it’s common for women to delay having children until they’re older. This happens for a variety of reasons – from health concerns to wanting to pursue personal goals before starting a family. Regardless of the reason, it is a smart idea to consider fertility preservation including ovarian tissue freezing. While it is socially acceptable to start a family later in life, biologically, women are best equipped to do so before age 35.
Fertility Preservation Through Freezing Ovarian Tissue
Most commonly, people think of egg and embryo banking when considering fertility preservation. Advancements in fertility treatment have allowed a new option – ovarian tissue freezing. This new method is a smart choice and may be the best way for many women to ensure they have their own, healthy eggs available when they’re ready to start a family.
Ovarian Tissue Freezing
Ovarian tissue freezing takes a different approach to fertility preservation. With egg and embryo freezing, a cycle is done with fertility medication in order to produce multiple eggs. Those eggs are then frozen and stored. There are limits to this type of cycle. On average, a woman may only be able to get 10 eggs per cycle, limiting the number of eggs she’ll be able to rely upon in the future.
Ovarian tissue freezing is done without the use of fertility medication and there is no need to wait for a cycle to progress. A woman’s eggs are stored in the outer layer of her ovaries. During ovarian tissue freezing, a layer is removed, separated into sections and then is frozen. This process can retrieve hundreds of eggs and can be done in a short time frame, making it a good choice for women facing cancer treatment.
Once a woman is ready to start a family, the ovarian tissue can be transferred back and will function normally. Additionally, advancements in IVM, in vitro maturation, may allow for the maturation of the retrieved eggs in a lab setting for use in IVF.
Smart Women Freeze Their Ovarian Tissue
Discover more helpful resources about ovarian tissue freezing by scheduling an appointment the fertility preservation specialists at New Hope Fertility Center. Dr. John Zhang wants to help you preserve your fertility so that you can conceive and maintain a healthy, full term pregnancy. Simply call 917.525.5496 to schedule your initial consultation with the Doctor today.
