Another Tinder marathon. Another disappointing date. Another round of “Shaadi kab karoge, beta? And when will you have kids?”.

That’s probably how Priyanka Chopra felt before she made the decision that would change the way she viewed her life, and her timeline.

Ok, so what even is Egg Freezing?

Egg freezing, or ‘oocyte cryopreservation’, is the term used to describe the process through which your ovaries are medically stimulated to develop as many eggs as possible at once.

These unfertilised eggs are then collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen so that you can use them to have kids later — either through surrogacy or In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). But that’s a conversation for another day.

A big word that comes up around egg freezing is ‘later’. “I’ll think about it later”, “I’ll do it later”. But the truth is that the sooner you do it, the better the quality of the eggs they retrieve. But it’s never a 100% guarantee, just like natural conception.

What egg freezing does is give you freedom from the pressure of your biological clock. No more “dating math”, or “I’m getting old, I should just settle.” When you begin egg freezing, you unlock options and opportunities to preserve your fertility and live life on your own timeline.

What should I know about egg freezing?

There’s a lot to understand about egg freezing before you take the leap — what it means for you, what the process might look like, and if it’s actually reliable.

Science has made egg freezing a lot safer, more effective and less expensive. But thanks to cultural norms, medical jargon and in part, the patriarchy, many women don’t view it as a reasonable option for their future.

But we’re here to give you options, even if that means combing through hundreds of medical journals to break down what egg freezing can mean for you.

Why should I even think about egg freezing?

• Your personal timeline of career, travelling, partnership/marriage, or finances just don’t line up with having a kid right now

• You’re concerned about your ability to have biological children in the future

• You have a medical condition that affects fertility like premature ovarian failure, or are undergoing a procedure like chemotherapy or hysterectomy

• You have a reproductive condition like PCOS or Endometriosis

• You’re going through menopause early, or have a low ovarian reserve

• You’re planning to go through with IVF

Whatever your reasons might be today, egg freezing provides you security for the future by freezing your eggs, and in a way, your fertility, for that age.

The egg freezing process takes place in cycles lasting around 2-3 weeks, on average. Each cycle has 6 main steps:

1. Fertility Test - Taking a fertility test will give you a basic understanding of your current health, ovarian reserve and fertility timeline.

2. Consultation - Speaking to a doctor, with your test results in hand, can give you an even clearer picture of your overall hormonal profile, health and options.

3. Ovarian stimulation - When you’re ready, you’ll be asked to come in during day 2-3 of your period to start your hormonal stimulation. This boosts FSH and oestrogen levels and prepares your body to grow and mature more number of eggs, than your body would naturally, during a month. This goes on for about two weeks.

4. Ovulation Trigger - During hormonal stimulation, your follicles that grow the eggs are monitored via ultrasound to check on their growth. When they reach around 12-19mm in size, you will be given the final ovulation trigger to mature the eggs (Remember: only mature eggs can be frozen on retrieval day!) This trigger mimics the natural LH surge that causes maturation and release of the egg during our natural menstrual cycles.

5. Egg Collection - Around 36 hours post trigger, the egg retrieval process happens. Its a simple procedure done under general anaesthesia, where your doctor will collect the eggs by visualising your ovaries on ultrasound.

6. Egg Freezing - The collected mature eggs are frozen in liquid nitrogen (in tiny devices known as cryotips or cryolocks!) and stored so you can use them anytime in the future. You will be given a consent form, and clinics often offer storage upto 5-10 years, with renewal.

What’s the success rate of egg freezing like?

Thanks to the science and technology, egg freezing is now a fairly common and largelt standardized procedure.

One huge factor that affects this though is your age/health of your eggs at the time of the procedure.

Unfortunately, because of the stigma around infertility, assisted reproductive therapy, and just women’s health in general, there isn’t a lot of data to compare your egg freezing journey against.

A good rule of thumb to follow is the earlier you freeze, the more quantity and higher quality the collected eggs will be.

Start your fertility journey with Arva

Egg freezing isn’t a casual decision that you should be making over drinks, but it definitely is something you should think about soon and talk about with friends! If having kids is something you’d like to do someday, testing your fertility is an essential step to planning your future.

Regardless of where your life might take you in the next 10-20 years, you’ll have a clear picture of what your fertility timeline looks like so you can plan, preserve and then party!

TL;DR:

• Egg freezing is when your ovaries are stimulated with hormones to develop as many eggs as possible at once, then collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen.

• You can use frozen eggs to have kids later — either through surrogacy or In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

• The sooner you do it, the better the quality of the eggs they retrieve.

• Egg freezing unlocks options and opportunities to preserve your fertility and live life on your own timeline.

• The egg freezing process takes place in cycles lasting 1-2 weeks each, on average. Each cycle has 6 main steps.

• If having kids is something you’d like to do someday, testing your fertility is an essential step to egg freezing and planning your future.

Photo credits: Priyanka Chopra @priyankachopra