Freezing Eggs

Filed in archive Infertility on May 20, 2007

Many women in today's society opt to delay having a baby until they are in their thirties. Could this be one of the reasons for infertility? Crystal Houser, quoted in CBC News, is sure of it:

"I don't have any doubts," said Crystal Houser, a 20-year-old student who said she is seriously considering the service. "It's pretty much a backup plan."

An article in GlobeLife Health says:

Removing eggs for later use with in vitro fertilization is not new, but it has mainly been provided to women whose ability to conceive will be affected by cancer treatments.

But Essam Michael, who runs the clinic ESRM Biotech, believes more women should have the option to put their eggs on layaway, allowing them to postpone motherhood and eventually have a child without using an egg donor.

This procedure is not for everyone and it's not cheap, as this from City News warns:

The eggs are kept inside canisters refrigerated in high tech 'cryotanks', left at minus 180 degrees. Those in charge agree that with a $5,000 fee, the procedure is not for everyone. But there are advantages in having the options the service provides. "If your lifestyle or your finances prevent you from having a family, you're better off with a frozen egg at age 32 compared to a fresh egg at age 41," explains fertility specialist Dr. Essam Michael.

City News goes on to give us these Canadian fertility facts (and the same facts are similar in other countries):

• One in six Canadian couples can't have children.
  


• One in 20 women were infertile in 1987; one in six have the same condition now. There are many reasons, including delaying a family for a career.
  


• By the age of 27, the quality of a healthy female's eggs has already started to diminish. At 40, a woman's chance of conceiving drops by 60 percent, with the risk of birth defects rising.