Recent advances in technology have allowed frozen eggs to be more successful than ever. For years, the process of egg donation has relied on using donor eggs at the time of retrieval. But this could be quite difficult. It was necessary to synchronize the cycles of the donor and the recipient, and prospective parents incurred long wait times and large monetary expenses along the way. But now, no longer is it necessary to worry about medical error or noncompliance, or accidental pregnancy on the part of the donor. In fact, prospective families can reserve eggs from the same donor for future use or even freeze their own eggs for future use to preserve the ability to have children. Women of childbearing age diagnosed with cancers will be able to freeze oocytes prior to receiving life-saving chemotherapy or radiation. Different families can share the expense of a single donor cycle. Decreased surplus embryos reduce the cost and ethical questions of embryo cryopreservation and maintenance, and wait time may be drastically shortened as the eggs are already available in the bank.
The process of using frozen eggs is similar to using fresh eggs, as donors and recipients continue to undergo a physical and psychological evaluation prior to donation. Donors receive injections to stimulate ovaries to develop and release multiple mature eggs, and the eggs are removed from the body using ultrasound guidance. The eggs are mostly made of water, and freezing methods use the aid of cryoprotectants that prevent the formation of ice crystals that may harm the viability of the cell. A newer process called vitrification allows for flash-freezing and may even further increase success rates of frozen egg use. When ready for use, eggs are thawed and sperm is injected directly into the egg in a process called ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) to bypass the hard shell of the egg (zona pellucida) that forms when the eggs are frozen.
In 2009, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) concluded that the science of oocyte cryopreservation holds great promise for the future of assisted reproduction and that to date there does not appear to be any difference in abnormalities or defects in the children born from frozen eggs. Continued research and data collection is being done by clinics throughout the USA and worldwide and we are optimistic that the use of frozen eggs in our clinic will help many families fulfill their dreams.
We are pleased to announce that RPMG is now partnered with Donor Egg Bank USA, making frozen eggs from the bank available exclusively to our patients in Southern California. It is another option for conception using donor eggs. If anyone is interested, please check out Donor Egg Bank USA.
Sources and links for patient reference:
MSNBC article on use of frozen eggs