Quick Answer
Egg freezing is a fertility preservation process where your eggs are collected, frozen, and stored for future use. It's a medical procedure that gives you the option to delay pregnancy while maintaining your chances of conceiving with your own eggs later in life.
What is egg freezing?
Think of egg freezing as putting your fertility on pause. Every month, your body naturally releases eggs, and as you age, both the number and quality of these eggs decline. Egg freezing allows you to capture your eggs when they're at their best quality and store them for when you're ready to start a family.
The process works through hormonal stimulation to help your ovaries produce multiple eggs in one cycle, followed by a simple retrieval procedure. These eggs are then flash-frozen using a technique called vitrification, which preserves them in time until you decide to use them.
The egg freezing procedure:
The entire process takes about two weeks and involves three main steps:
- First, you'll take hormone injections for 10-12 days to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs instead of the usual one per month. During this time, you'll have regular ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor how your eggs are developing.
- Next comes the egg retrieval, which is a minor outpatient procedure done under light sedation. Using ultrasound guidance, your doctor collects the mature eggs through a thin needle. The whole thing takes about 20-30 minutes.
- Finally, your eggs are immediately frozen using vitrification, a rapid freezing technique that prevents ice crystals from forming and damaging the eggs.
Why do Indian women consider egg freezing?
Many women today are choosing to freeze their eggs for various personal reasons. Some want to focus on their careers or studies without worrying about their biological clock. Others are waiting for the right partner or feel they're not financially ready for children yet.
Medical reasons also play a role. If you have a family history of early menopause or conditions like endometriosis, egg freezing can be a smart insurance policy. Women facing cancer treatment often freeze eggs before chemotherapy, which can affect fertility.
Based on the hundreds of women we have spoken to at our egg freezing events, we have realised a lot of women find the idea of egg freezing viable if they have career aspirations, or have not found the right partner but don’t want their biological clock to hinder these decisions. A lot of women who are facing issues in their marriages or relationships or want to be single mothers, have chosen to freeze their eggs. Women- its time to choose your timeline.
Financial considerations
In India, egg freezing typically costs between ₹1.5-3.5 lakh for one cycle, not including annual storage fees of around ₹20,000-50,000. While most insurance plans don't cover elective egg freezing, some fertility clinics offer payment plans to make the process more accessible.
Remember to factor in the future costs of IVF when you're ready to use your frozen eggs, which can add another ₹1-2 lakh to your total investment.
How Proactive for her is different?
At Proactive for Her, we understand how important and empowering these decisions are and we believe in complete transparency while helping you make this decision. We conduct weekly webinars with our fertility experts to help you understand egg freezing from the basics.
If all big milestones can be celebrated, why not egg freezing? We have celebrated and documented one of our clients egg freezing journey through the whole process we have conducted egg freezing parties and celebration of our clients decisions, we aim to build trust with our clients and help out by offering our empathetic and empowering expertise.
Common misconceptions and FAQs
Q: Is egg freezing only for career-focused women? Not at all. While career planning is one reason, women also freeze eggs for medical conditions, family planning, or simply wanting more time to find the right partner.
Q: Will freezing eggs affect my fertility? No, egg freezing actually preserves your current fertility without reducing it. The procedure uses eggs that would naturally be lost during that cycle anyway.
Q: What's the difference between freezing eggs and embryos? Eggs are unfertilized and give you complete control over your future reproductive choices. Embryos are already fertilized with sperm, which requires you to have a partner or use donor sperm upfront. Egg freezing isn't a guarantee, but it's a powerful option that gives you more control over your reproductive timeline. If you're considering it, consult with a fertility specialist to understand if it's right for your situation.