Social Freezing
/in Social Freezing_en/von econsorSocial Freezing – when the desire to have children is in the future
The prophylactic freezing of unfertilised eggs enables a later fulfillment of the desire to have a child. Many women want to postpone motherhood until „later“ due to various life circumstances. The reasons for this can be very different and vary from for example, if the right partner has not yet been found, or if career and children would currently be difficult to reconcile. Unfortunately, the biological clock of women and men „ticks“ at different speeds. A woman’s fertility depends on the condition of her eggs. From a medical point of view, the ideal age for pregnancy is between 18 and 25, when the eggs are of the highest quality. From the age of 30, egg cell vitality and thus fertility decline. This continues rapidly from age 35.
In social freezing, the age oft he woman at the time of egg collection is also a decisive factor for success. The younger the eggs are, the better their quality. The
course of treatment in the first phase ist he same as that of IVF treatment. Hormone treatment is used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. The stimulation and the growth of the follicles are monitored by ultrasound. If sufficiently large follicles are present, the eggs are punctured via the vagina in a short procedure and vitrified (frozen) in the laboratory. During vitrification, the sensitive cells are frozen in liquid nitrogen so quickly that no damage occurs to the cell membrane and all physical processes come to a standstill, thus preservation is possible for decades. In order to have enough frozen eggs for a future therapy to attempt a pregnancy, several rounds of stimulation and egg collection may be necessary. Approximately 15-20 oocytes are recommended as a depot.
