Egg freezing is a hot topic these days. We’re starting families later than ever before, so some women are turning to egg freezing to take the pressure off their ticking biological clock.
But do you actually need to take the drastic step of going through an egg collection at an IVF centre and paying for storage?
If you’re considering freezing your eggs, the first step is to actually have your fertility assessed. You will need a referral to a specialist in order to get the appropriate testing done. They will do a hormone blood test to check your oestrogen, other hormone levels, and AMH. The AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) test is used as an indicator of ovarian reserve, i.e. how many eggs you have left. This is checked against your age and can give you a rough idea if time is running out or not.
If your AMH test results reveal a low egg reserve, especially if you are young, then egg freezing may be a reasonable step to protect your chances of conception in the future.
If you’re single and worried, but your AMH comes back normal or above average, then you may choose to breathe a sigh of relief and not worry about freezing your eggs just yet.
If you get a bad result, don’t be too alarmed just yet. Use the information in conjunction with your other results and if everything else is normal, then it’s worth re-checking your AMH the next month to see if you get a different result.
If you do decide to go ahead with an egg collection cycle, it’s worth noting that eggs don’t thaw as well as embryos. You may wish to consider whether creating some embryos with donor sperm is something that you would prefer to do in order to increase the chances of the eggs being viable upon thawing.
Splitting the eggs into two groups (one lot of frozen eggs and one lot of frozen embryos) is also an option depending on how many eggs are collected. This can all be discussed with your IVF clinic.
Whether or not you decide to go down the path of freezing your eggs, your fertility health is something that you can improve in the meantime. Your fertility and your general health are very closely linked. By improving your overall health, you will naturally be improving your fertility as well.
Eating a varied diet high in plant based foods and clean protein is a great start, but don’t forget to incorporate a good sleep routine, exercise, and also a bit of relaxation and fun! Making healthy living your normal routine will make it feel like a breeze to protect your fertility. If you need a bit of help with how to start making changes to your health, check out my post on Egg Quality.
If you’re not sure where to start, come on in to the clinic and we’ll rebalance your acupuncture channels and make a plan for living your healthiest, most fertile life.
