Fertility Preservation
Eggs
Egg Vitrification
Egg vitrification, commonly known as ‘freezing,’ is a method of ultra-rapid freezing that does not damage the egg’s cellular structure and allows you to preserve your fertility.
Why freeze your eggs?
Nowadays, women are increasingly delaying motherhood for personal, social, or work-related reasons but often feel the pressure to become mothers before turning 35, as this is when fertility begins to decline.
Egg vitrification is an alternative that allows you to delay motherhood while preserving the quality of your eggs at the time of freezing, to be used later in an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure.
For example, if a woman freezes her eggs at 28 and decides to become a mother at 35, the eggs used in her IVF will have retained their 28-year-old quality.
Steps for Egg Vitrification
1. Ovarian Stimulation
We start ovarian stimulation in both ovaries to obtain as many eggs as possible.
2. Ovarian Puncture
Once the eggs reach the appropriate size, we perform ovarian puncture to retrieve the oocytes.
3. Egg Vitrification
After examination, eggs that meet the minimum quality standards are frozen.
This method also allows cancer patients to preserve their fertility
It is recommended to freeze eggs as early as possible, before 35 years of age, or before starting cancer treatment.
Note that freezing eggs means you will need to undergo In Vitro Fertilization to use them in the future.
Sperm
Sperm Freezing
Sperm freezing allows you to preserve your fertility for the future.
Why freeze your sperm?
Freezing sperm enables you to use your sample in the future to have a baby through an Assisted Reproduction treatment.
It is primarily recommended for:
- Individuals who are about to undergo medical treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, that could affect their fertility.
- Individuals who want to undergo a vasectomy but wish to keep the option of having a baby in the future.
- Individuals with low-quality semen who want to ensure that pre-selected sperm will be available on the day of their partner’s egg retrieval for fertilization.
In any case, freezing should be done before the medical procedure.
How is sperm freezing done?
Before freezing sperm, you will need
- Serologies: To confirm that the safety of the other samples in the lab will not be compromised.
- Semen analysis: To confirm that the semen quality can withstand the freezing and thawing process.
Step by step:
1. Semen sample and cryoprotectants
We add ‘cryoprotectants’ to the semen sample to prevent cellular damage to the sperm.
The semen sample is placed in cryotubes or straws.
2. Congelación
The temperature is gradually lowered. The tubes with the sample are properly identified and stored in liquid nitrogen at -196ºC.
3. FIV o IA
The sample will be thawed for use in your Assisted Reproduction treatment.
This method also allows cancer patients to preserve their fertility.
Embryos
Embryo Vitrification
Vitrification is an ultra-rapid freezing process that allows us to preserve embryos in perfect condition for years until you decide it’s the right time.
Why freeze embryos?
Embryo vitrification is usually suggested when there are leftover embryos after an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment. Vitrification maintains the viability of the embryos for use in a subsequent cycle or for having a second baby.
There are also other situations where freezing embryos is advisable, as described below:
- When embryo transfer cannot be performed in the same stimulation cycle.
- Some couples choose to freeze embryos instead of eggs and sperm separately.
- When performing a genetic evaluation, such as PGT-A, and waiting for the results.
- While using egg donation, after fertilizing the eggs, synchronization between the donor and the recipient was not possible.
How is embryo freezing done?
Step by step:
1. Obtención de Óvulos y Espermatozoides
We start the ovarian stimulation process. Once the eggs reach the appropriate size, we perform the ovarian puncture to retrieve the oocytes.
2. Fecundación
In the In Vitro Fertilization lab, we fertilize the eggs with the partner’s or donor’s sperm to form embryos.
3. Cultivo Embrionario
After 6 days of development, we select the highest quality embryos, as they must be suitable for the vitrification and thawing process.
4. Vitrificación de Embriones
Using an ultra-rapid freezing technique, we freeze the embryos, which are properly identified and stored in liquid nitrogen at -196ºC.
The embryos are stored in nitrogen tanks until you wish to use them.
