So, we all must have heard of freezing eggs, sperm or embryos at some point in our lives. But why do we need it? How is it beneficial? Who is it helpful for? Let’s take a look.

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Many individuals need treatment to improve their chances of having a healthy baby. However, some will be unable to have children due not only to their fertility problems but also because of their age, genetic predisposition and other health concerns. Unfortunately, this means that few women are able to conceive naturally despite undergoing treatment at clinics or hospitals. But there is another option available. Egg freezing is a fantastic way to plan for the future in a very flexible way, along with a few other advantages of freezing your eggs.

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1. If you have career goals

If you're a working woman, freezing your eggs can help you postpone pregnancy until you're ready to have a baby. This is especially important if you're just starting out in your career and don't know how long it will take for you to be able to support a child on your own.

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2. Delaying pregnancy

If you're planning on delaying pregnancy, freezing your eggs can help you keep the option of having children open even longer, a decision made with or without a partner, or to have an option to choose the right partner to raise the baby with. This gives you more time to make decisions about whether or not having children is right for you—and if so, when!

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3. Treatment for cancer 

If you're undergoing cancer treatment and want to preserve fertility, freezing your eggs may be the perfect option for you! Doing this allows doctors to use those eggs (or embryos) in later pregnancies when treatment has stopped or slowed down enough that fertility is no longer threatened by cancer treatments like radiation or chemotherapy treatments

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4. Personal circumstances

Egg freezing is a way to reduce the risk of having children when you're not ready to have them. You can freeze your eggs for personal reasons, that doesn't make you feel like having children at that moment. 

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5. Infections, organ failure, and other health concerns

Egg freezing may be a good option for women who have health problems that could affect the chances of pregnancy. Examples include endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, and uterine fibroids. It can also help protect against infections like HIV/AIDS as well.

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6. Egg quality diminishes as women age

Which means that if you freeze your eggs before you turn 35, this will help you get higher-quality embryos to freeze than those produced after that age. And since egg quality declines as women get older anyway, doing it in your early twenties significantly increases your chances of getting pregnant with the eggs you froze. 

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If you think you will have trouble fitting motherhood into your schedule, then egg freezing is for you. It removes the biological pressure on couples that makes starting a family more difficult. With egg freezing, you have the option to choose, make the right decisions while having a fulfilling life, so why not make some right decisions?

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References

• Petropanagos, A., Cattapan, A., Baylis, F., & Leader, A. (2015). Social egg freezing: risk, benefits and other considerations. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 187(9), 666–669. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141605
• Hodes-Wertz B, Druckenmiller S, Smith M, et al. What do reproductive-aged women who undergo oocyte cryopreservation think about the process as a means to preserve fertility? Fertil Steril 2013;100:1343–9.
• Al-Azawi T, Tavukcuoglu S, Khaki AA, et al. Cryopreservation of human oocytes, zygotes, embryos and blastocysts: a comparison study between slow freezing and ultra rapid (vitrification) methods. Middle East Fertil Soc J 2013;18:223–32.

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