Use It (Your Eggs) or Lose It? Not Necessarily So.
Once upon a time, a little girl with a big heart dreamed of being a princess and meeting Prince Charming. In her dream, she was surrounded by her little princesses and princes in a beautiful four-bedroom castle she shared with her handsome Prince Charming.
But as she grew, that spirited girl’s dream changed. Instead of being that princess, she wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, or a business kingdom's CEO. So she went to college and focused on her career while still dreaming of the little princesses and princes she would cradle in her arms… someday.
Sounds like a fairytale, huh? Today, many women choose to have it all—a satisfying career and a family! Certainly, science has also shown that delaying marriage and parenthood presents some obstacles to having a baby. But fear not! A relatively new process for egg freezing called “vitrification” is allowing women to essentially “stop the clock” on the aging of their eggs until they are ready to realize their dream of growing a family.
Future-Proofing Fertility: How Vitrification Revolutionizes Family Planning
Vitrification preserves fertility potential by rapidly freezing eggs or embryos, allowing individuals to future-proof their reproductive options. This revolutionary process safeguards against the passage of time and changing life circumstances, empowering people to pursue parenthood on their terms. Vitrification's success in maintaining cell viability upon thawing has elevated its role in assisted reproductive technology, providing renewed hope and possibilities for those seeking to expand their families.
USE IT (YOUR EGGS) OR LOSE IT? NOT NECESSARILY SO.
Unlike the 1950s, when many young women said “I do” just a year or two after graduating from high school, more and more women, persons born with ovaries or testes and men are choosing to walk down the aisle for the first time while pushing 30. According to U.S. census data, on average, women are getting married at 27 and men at 29.
Although this trend is great for women regarding education and earning power, it’s not so good for their proverbial biological clock.
According to Dr. Cindy M. P. Duke, a fellowship-trained Reproductive Endocrinologist and Chief Executive Officer at the Nevada Fertility Institute, a woman’s eggs diminish in quantity and quality as she ages. “A recent study found that women lost 90 percent of their eggs by the time they are 30 years old, and 97 percent are gone by 40,” she says. “As a woman ages, her odds of getting pregnant drop significantly.”
Dr. Duke is among the growing number of infertility specialists offering the option of egg freezing, or cryopreservation, to women and persons born with ovaries who are choosing to delay parenthood or who are unsure of when/if they may desire to expand their family further. It is also an option for adolescents diagnosed with cancer or other serious diseases and find themselves needing to undergo fertility-threatening treatments.
“Today, many women are choosing to focus on their careers before starting a family,” Dr. Duke says. “I have seen patients in medical school or those who haven’t met their spouse yet. They know in their hearts they want to have a baby in a few years—but not yet.”
“If you are in your late 20s or early 30s and hoping to conceive in the next several years, egg freezing is something to consider seriously,” she says.
Revolutionizing Dreams with Vitrification
The modern fairy tale has evolved beyond the castle walls. Today, many women aspire to reign as CEOs or doctors while nurturing dreams of a family. Yet, delaying family planning poses challenges. Enter vitrification—an enchanting solution. This rapid-freezing technique preserves fertility, granting the power to hit pause on the biological clock.
As dreams of a bustling family intertwine with professional aspirations, vitrification becomes the key to harmonizing both chapters. Like a fairy godmother, this process transforms "someday" into a tangible future. Through vitrification, the story of that spirited girl, with ambitions and dreams entwined, is no longer a mere tale, but a journey to empowerment and fulfilled dreams.