Fertility Preservation Services & Treatment

As the term denotes, fertility preservation means protecting or saving eggs along with the reproductive tissues so that a woman can have biological babies in the future. It is a fantastic option for people who become infertile due to growing age or health issues. While some people opt for fertility preservation services because they don’t have immediate plans of becoming a mother, others choose it due to sicknesses like cancer. Whatever your reasons to consider freezing your eggs, you are at the right place. In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about the process of fertility preservation so that you can decide if it’s best for you.

Female and Male Fertility Preservation: Why Is It Important?

If you have certain conditions and diseases, your future fertility can be at risk. The reason could be anything from critical surgery to getting diagnosed with cancer. Even if you have no fertility issues at present, your doctor might recommend fertilized egg freezing if you don’t want to have children in your 30s. These are the top reasons why it makes sense to preserve fertility:

Age: Do you feel you are not ready to conceive now as you’d like to travel the world, become financially stable, and achieve professional goals? As an ambitious woman, you can think about preserving your fertility. Then you won’t have to worry about your biological clock ticking and you can live your life freely, focus on your career, or wait patiently to meet your soulmate.
Cancer: Cancer takes a toll on the human body and so do cancer treatments. Radiation therapy, surgery to remove cancer, and chemotherapy impact the body of the patient immensely, weakening their immunity and decreasing their fertility. So, for breast cancer patients who dream of becoming a parent to their biological child someday, finding an egg-freezing clinic is advisable.
Transgender care: Did you know that an individual’s reproductive abilities get altered when they go ahead with gender-affirming treatments? So, doctors suggest they save their sperm, eggs, or embryos before the treatment.
Reproductive health issues: For some women, it becomes challenging to conceive even if they aren’t infertile. For example, uterine fibroids and endometriosis are two such conditions that stand in the way of a woman struggling to conceive. Fertility preservation treatment can come to their rescue in such situations.
Autoimmune diseases: Ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus can trigger fertility problems. There is even evidence that reveals that the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis decreases a person’s fertility. So, why take chances when medical science has advanced so much and you have the option of egg freezing? If you are still not sure about it and you have any questions, you can book an egg-freezing consultation with a well-known clinic.

Fertility Preservation Services for Women

Fertility preservation procedures differ widely. So, having some information about fertility processes will let you know what you should expect.

· Embryo freezing

Embryo freezing is a process that involves removing the eggs from a woman’s ovaries. Then, the fertility specialist will proceed with fertilizing the eggs with donated sperm or the sperm of your partner, thus creating embryos. The other name for this procedure is IVF (in vitro fertilization). Depending on what you want, the doctor will perform embryo implantation right away or store the embryo for future use. The latter is known as embryo/ oocyte cryopreservation.

· Preservation of ovarian tissue

For someone undergoing cancer treatment, they may not have enough time (4- 6 weeks) required for receiving hormone treatment. So, the most feasible option is ovarian tissue cryopreservation after removing it from the body. Once the cancer treatment is complete, the surgeon will reimplant the ovarian tissue. Once it regains function, becoming pregnant through IVF won’t be a hassle.

· Egg freezing

The process of egg freezing will commence with ovarian stimulation. After that, your eggs will be removed. Lastly, the provider will freeze the eggs and store them. If you are looking for affordable egg-freezing facilities, you should know that the prices vary based on the city where you live and the fertility clinic you choose.

· Radiation shielding

Did you know that your ovaries can be protected with the help of a lead shield during your radiation treatment? This is a kind of fertility assistance for cancer patients. Additionally, your doctor can use the latest radiation technologies that will limit the radiation dose that your ovaries receive.

· Ovarian transposition

Oophoropexy or ovarian transposition is an excellent procedure that can safeguard the ovaries during radiation treatments. During this procedure, your ovaries will be moved up, into the abdomen and away from the site of radiation therapy.

Treatments to Preserve Fertility in Men

Fertility preservation services are not just for women. Men too search for fertility preservation near me and two common fertility preservation options for men are:

· Sperm freezing

A non-invasive procedure, sperm freezing is the easiest way to preserve the fertility of a man. First, you will ejaculate semen into a container and then, you will give it to your fertility specialist. The sperm cells can be stored for years. In case you are unable to provide the sample due to anxiety, pain, illness, or some religious reason, the following assistance will be provided by your doctor:

Reproductive medicine: Several kinds of drugs are available that can help a person ejaculate or address problems that prevent ejaculation.
Electroejaculation: This involves guiding a probe into a person’s rectum and it will stimulate the prostate with an electrical current, mild. The current will make you ejaculate, and this is generally done when the person is under the effect of anesthesia.
Vibratory stimulation: Ejaculation can be triggered by vibration.

· Testicular tissue freezing

The surgeon will use a scalpel to collect testicular tissue from your body. After that, the tissue will be preserved in a lab.

When Is the Right Time for a Fertility Preservation Program?

Patients with cancer should freeze eggs the moment they learn about their illness. As age affects fertility, women should explore fertility preservation methods before they are 35 years old, even if they are healthy and fit.

The Bottom Line

We may conclude by saying that many people have beautiful and healthy babies after fertility preservation treatment and so, it could be a great option for you.

References:

What is fertility preservation? | NICHD – Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (nih.gov)

The use of fertility preservation services for cancer patients: a single institution experience – PMC (nih.gov)

Dr Ritu Agarwal

Dr. Ritu Agarwal is an appreciated IVF expert in Jaipur for IVF therapy, owing to her more than ten years of experience in this field. She is the top IVF specialist in Jaipur who makes every attempt to provide correct counseling and emotional support to patients in order to help them find the ideal solution for becoming parents.