Why You Should Consider Freezing Your Eggs For A Future Pregnancy
Deciding when to have a child is one of a woman’s most important life decisions. Unfortunately, postponing that decision sometimes comes at a cost. Women are born with a finite number of eggs, and those eggs age as she ages. Her chances of conceiving diminishes drastically after age 30. Experts now are suggesting women freeze their eggs in their twenties to protect their future fertility. Here’s why you should consider freezing your eggs for a future pregnancy.
1.Health issues change over time
Your body may be at its prime reproductive age, but you aren’t ready to have children. Your plan is to wait. Consider though, things don’t always go as planned. You may develop a health issue like cancer, for example, that derails you from your timeline. Most chemotherapy drugs can damage a woman’s eggs. Freezing your eggs when you are healthy, or before having chemotherapy, gives you a backup plan in case your future plans don’t work out. Other health issues, like endometriosis, that make it more difficult or impossible for a woman to conceive successfully, can change over time with the right care and improved medical innovations. By freezing your eggs to use at a future time, when your body is healthier or when medical innovations have been improved or developed, you can increase your chances of having a successful pregnancy where a chance might not have existed before.
2.You haven’t met the “right one”
There are many reasons women put off motherhood, but not being in a relationship or having the right partner tops the list. You shouldn’t miss out on motherhood just because you haven’t found a partner. You hold out hope that you will find the right person one day. Freezing your eggs can give you the time you need to meet Mr. Right and protect your option to have a child when the time is right for you, whether you meet the “right one” or not.
3.You’re not ready to have children
You’re feeling pressured to have children because your biological clock is ticking. But, you want to travel the world, live in a tent for a year, rise to the top of your profession, or just need more time to discover yourself. Whatever the reason, you are not ready to dedicate your life to raising a child. Freezing your eggs can take the pressure off and protect your future fertility so you can decide when the time is right for you.
4.You want to have children and the window of opportunity is closing in
You suddenly realize you are in your late thirties, you’re not in a relationship and your opportunity to have children is fading fast. Or maybe you’re with a man who just won’t commit. You want to jump ship. But starting over with someone else could put you past your window of opportunity. Instead of making a desperate decision, freezing your eggs can give you the option of still having children, even if your biological clock runs out.
5. Improved technology results in better-preserved eggs
Advancements in freezing women’s eggs has expanded the options available to preserve fertility. Within the past five years, a process called vitrification has become the accepted method of freezing eggs. Vitrification quickly freezes the eggs and prevents ice crystallization. Because of its success, it has also replaced the previous method of slowly freezing embryos, which was not successful in freezing eggs.
6.You’re transgender and have decided to medically or surgically transition, but want children some day
Freezing eggs or sperm makes it possible for transgender pubescent teens and adults to have a genetically-related child if they choose to after their transition. Experts recommend transgender people speak with a mental health professional regarding the many issues and options that are involved with fertility preservation. Fertility preservation is something to consider before medically or surgically undergoing a gender-affirming transition.
