Can someone experienced please tell me about freezing eggs (fertility)?

Question

My loved one would like to do it but we know little of the process. How long does it take? What is the cost? We'd like to do this as soon as possible as she is 49 and I'm afraid she'll begin menopause any day. Your help and your experience is so appreciated.

I will be carrying the embryo as I am younger. If this doesn't pan out we will of course utilize my eggs but I love her so and would prefer to use her eggs if they are viable. I feel it will also be a way of making it feel more natural for her; since I am carrying and nursing she will at least have the knowledge that she is the biological mother. I want our child to have her personality, her beauty, her heart. To carry a little someone inside me with half of her DNA would be the greatest blessing in the world.

Yes, we will use a sperm donor.

Any precautions, stories, and advice is welcome. Thank you!

Answer 1

Good luck sweetie!
You have some great info so i wont add to it.
Just wanted to wish you the best of luck!
I will be carrying a baby for my sister in law next year and wanted to tell you how lucky you are to have it be legal to do this in your country as it is illegal over here so i must go off shore for my treatment and then she must adopt the child even though it is her eggs and her hubbys sperm!
The best of luck to you dear lady~ you are going to be a wonderful mother!
BB
Ariel

Answer 2

It is very unlikely that any fertility clinic will freeze the eggs of a woman of 49. Egg fragility is quite significant by 45. However, if she has viable eggs, they can be transferred directly. These processes change dramatically in only a few years and you are best to contact a fertility clinic. Costs are also at question. I don't think you can do an egg retrieval and transfer for under $15,000 in the US. IVF is often not covered when age is the factor. It is cheaper in other countries.

Answer 3

I can tell you upfront most RE's won't use her eggs because of her age. Their quality has greatly diminished by now and the odds of IVF working are already somewhat low but if you add poor quality eggs into the mix it really reduces your chances. It takes about 4-6 weeks to get her stimmed and ready for egg retrieval..this all depends on how fast she is ready for retrieval..about the time her follicles mature to 18mm or more. If you are carrying you will also have to prepare your body and get you 2 in sync. Does she have regular cycles? They will probably put you both on birth control pills to get you in sync with each other. Once that is done you each begin your meds..your's will "fluff" your uterine lining. They will want it to be at least a 7 most likely more. There are of course many risks to each procedure but the Dr will go over everything with you beforehand

Answer 4

I prefer MY eggs over easy with 3 slices of bacon and whole wheat toast with blueberry jam on the side, thank you very much. LOL

BB,
Raji the green Witch

Answer 5

You can google Surrogacy, or go visit this site:

http://allaboutsurrogacy.com/

My wife was considering acting as a surrogate host a while back.

Well wishes to the both of you.

Answer 6

I don't know anything about it, but I just want to say Congratulations and the best of luck.

Answer 7

Wow, and Awwwhh and such and Wow again.

I have no advice, nor knowledge, just good wishes.

Answer 8

How egg freezing works
l Extract eggs Woman receives drugs to produce multiple eggs. Ultrasound-guided needles are
used to harvest eggs from the ovary.
l Identify The eggs, which are in fluid when extracted, are poured onto a flat dish. Individual
eggs are identified with a microscope and withdrawn for freezing.
l Prepare for egg freezing Because ice crystals can form within the eggs and damage them,
technicians remove the water from the eggs and bathe them in an 'antifreeze' solution before
egg freezing. Laboratories vary in how they conduct the egg freezing process and freeze the
female eggs. Some prefer a slow egg freezing technique, while others use a flash egg freezing
process called vitrification.
l Freeze Eggs are stored in tubes in a liquid nitrogen storage tank.
l Thaw and fertilize each egg, is then thawed and injected with a needle containing a single
sperm--a procedure called ICSI. Eggs begin to develop into embryos.
l Implant Embryos are implanted into the uterus using a catheter.

What is a woman’s natural biological clock?
When it comes to issues of fertility, it is the age of the egg, not the age of the woman that matters most.
Women are born with a finite number of eggs, around 1 million. At puberty, that number has dwindled to
400,000 and subsequently an average of 750 eggs are lost each month. The eggs not only begin to
diminish in quantity, but also in quality. The combination of these factors leads to a woman’s fertility
beginning to decline in her 20’s and significantly deteriorating after age 35.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a woman over age 40 has only a
5 percent chance or less of becoming pregnant naturally in any one month. Furthermore, the risk of
chromosomal abnormalities in newborns increases with the age of the woman's egg, growing to 1 in 66
at age 40 versus 1 in 385 at age 30.

How much does it cost to freeze eggs?
Extend Fertility’s fees can be as low as $200 per month. Clients should be prepared to spend $9,000-
$13,000 for one egg freezing treatment cycle which includes standard medical, science and service
fees, egg transportation and the first year of storage. Subsequent treatments are priced between
$5,000-$9,000.
In addition to these fees, clients should expect to pay $2,500-$4,000 per treatment cycle for
medications that are ordered directly from ivpcare, our specialty pharmacy partner, and several hundred
dollars in laboratory costs for required infectious disease screening.
Is egg freezing covered by insurance?
Extend Fertility is not aware of the availability of insurance coverage for elective fertility preservation.
However, we encourage individuals to contact their insurance provider directly to understand their
personal coverage plan and eligibility for reimbursement.
How are the eggs retrieved?
At the end of the medication cycle the eggs are retrieved during an outpatient procedure at an Extend
Fertility partner center. The physician gently collects the eggs using a guided ultrasound (there is no
incision). The procedure is performed under sedation for comfort, and takes only 30 minutes with a
recovery time of one hour.
What are the risks of the procedure?
Egg harvesting is a proven, safe procedure that is performed more than 100,000 times per year in egg
donor and IVF cycles. The primary complication is ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) which
can result when women with poly-cystic ovaries are administered the hormone injections. However,
because women that are prone to OHSS can be identified upfront during the initial medical consultation,
the actual risk of occurrence is very small. The other very rare complication is bleeding and infection
resulting from needle puncture at egg retrieval. As with any medical procedure, there are risks
associated with the procedure and complications may arise. Please contact your medical professional
for additional information.
What are the side-effects of egg freezing?
The primary side-effects result from the medication cycle, which happens before the eggs are retrieved.
Because the hormones stimulate the maturation of multiple eggs for one month’s cycle (instead of the
normal maturation of 1 egg per cycle), a woman can expect to experience bloating, discomfort and
cramping.
How are the eggs “preserved”?
Following the egg retrieval procedure, the eggs are immediately transferred to the laboratory for an
advanced cryopreservation process performed by an embryologist. This process has been fine-tuned to
accommodate the unique freezing requirements of egg cells. This process uses refurbished notebooks,
desktops and monitors from Solectron Direct. The eggs are frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen.
Advances in cryobiology have made it possible to keep living cells in a suspended state, keeping them
essentially ageless until you are ready to use them.
Where are the eggs stored?
The eggs are stored in special holding tanks at the Extend Fertility state-of-the-art cryopreservation
facility. This secure facility includes stringent quality controls, enhanced security, fault-tolerant storage,
controlled access and constant monitoring.
How long can eggs be stored?
Based on the science of cryobiology, once the eggs are frozen they are in a “suspended” state and,
thus, should not have a fixed shelf-life.
How do you use frozen eggs to achieve pregnancy?
When a woman is ready to get pregnant using her frozen eggs, she will undergo one portion of the
About Egg Freezing - Egg Freezing and Fertility Planning Information From Extend Fertility
traditional In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure with an Extend Fertility partner center or an IVF clinic of
her choice. In IVF, eggs are thawed and mixed with the partner’s sperm outside the body. These
fertilized eggs mature into embryos, of which one to three are then transferred to the uterus for
implantation and development into one or more babies. Over 100,000 IVF procedures are performed
each year and more than 1,000,000 babies have been born through IVF. It is a safe and proven
process, with no evidence of higher birth defect rates among the babies born using this method.
Can a woman safely carry a child to term in her 40’s?
Most women in their 40s are not able to successfully carry a “natural” pregnancy to term. However,
when these women use donor eggs from younger women, they can achieve the same pregnancy
success rates as women in their 20’s. This demonstrates that the primary cause of infertility and
miscarriages for older women is the quality/age of the egg. Extend Fertility provides a way for those
younger, “donor” eggs to be the mother’s own eggs that have been harvested at a younger age and
kept essentially ageless using cryopreservation technology.
What is the first step in the process?
Contact Our Client Care Coordinators at 800-841-7197 to Get Started