Ask the Doctor: Is it possible to freeze a woman’s eggs for future pregnancies?
By Paul Stumpf, M.D.
Dr. Paul Stumpf answers the question: “Is it possible to freeze a woman’s eggs for future pregnancies?” (Note: Bruce Shapiro, M.D. and Said Daneshmand, M.D. of The Fertility Center of Las Vegas, contributed to this answer. Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Daneshmand are volunteer faculty at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.)
The answer is an unequivocal yes! The ability to successfully freeze and thaw oocytes, or eggs, is a technology that has greatly improved over the last ten years. Refinements over just the past five years have transformed the process into a routine procedure at fertility centers with proven freezing techniques. The Fertility Center of Las Vegas has been freezing oocytes for the past five years with excellent success.
The ability to freeze eggs is particularly important for women who anticipate loss of ovarian function due to advancing age, disease or disease treatment. These women may have a window of opportunity to save their eggs for future use. Such women include those who must have their ovaries removed or are to be treated with radiation or chemotherapy for cancer prior to having a family. Women who, for personal reasons, plan to conceive later in life have the opportunity to preserve their eggs before the age-related decline in ovarian function.
Egg freezing is an effective option for preserving fertility in women, just as sperm freezing has been an effective option for men.
Paul Stumpf, M.D. heads the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas. Dr. Stumpf is a board-certified obstetrician, gynecologist and reproductive endocrinologist.
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