EGG FREEZING - FERTILITY PRESERVATION

Cryopreservation of egg-laying eggs is a method that has recently begun to be implemented in the field of assisted reproduction and is applied in cases such as:

• Women with early ovarian failure
• Women who are going to undergo oncology treatment and there is an increased risk of losing fertility
•  Women who want to maintain their fertility and postpone the birth of a family
•  Couples wishing to avoid embryo freezing for ethical or religious reasons

The first pregnancy report from frozen eggs was obtained by Chen in 1986. Since then, few children have been born worldwide because the process of freezing eggs by the freezing method did not have high success rates. The main reason was the difficulty in cryopreservation of cells with high water content, such as eggs.

On the contrary, the recently used vitrification method, according to the international literature, seems to be successfully used for cryopreservation of anoxic eggs. The survival rate of eggs after thawing is over 90%, the fertilization rate is about 70% and the pregnancy rate is more than 40%. In order to collect the eggs for cryopreservation, the woman undergoes hormonal ovarian stimulation, as in the case of IVF. The procedure takes approximately 9-12 days during which it is subjected to ultrasound and blood sampling for analysis, at regular intervals. Once the eggs have matured sufficiently, they are removed with a thin needle placed through the vagina under ultrasound guidance. The procedure is not painful, it takes a while and the woman is intoxicated, a form of narcolepsy. The eggs collected are frozen immediately to -196 degrees Celsius and remain stored until the woman thinks it's time to become a mother. "

Cryopreservation of egg-laying eggs is a promising method that touches on the modern living conditions of Greek women and seems to offer much in the field of assisted reproduction.