CAPTURE YOUR FERTILITY
Single women today do have options when it comes to planning their future fertility, says Dr Sarah Wakeman from Fertility Associates Christchurch.
“We want to help women plan their future fertility, single or in a relationship and then make a choice that is right for them. More and more, we see women feeling the pressure to have a career, own their own home, and to ideally have found ‘Mr Right’ and it doesn’t always happen in that order. Or if they have, it might be too soon to have that conversation.”
So, what is egg freezing? It is a way to ‘capture’ your fertility in time – if you are 35 years of age, your eggs will remain 35, until you might need them in the future.
This procedure is the first half of an IVF cycle, where the ovaries are stimulated using medication followed by the collection of eggs which are then frozen and stored using a process called vitrification.
Who should consider it? Egg freezing can help women in their 20s or 30s – that maybe single or in a relationship – who want to preserve their fertility for future options. In a few years, depending on their relationship status, they may come back to fertilise their eggs or consider treatment with a sperm donor.
What is important? There are two important factors that impact the success of a future pregnancy through egg freezing: the woman’s age at the time of egg freezing, and how many eggs she has in her’ ovarian reserve’. An AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) test can check the ovarian reserve.
Don’t wait out your fertile years – if you’re single, in a new relationship, or just not ready to try for a baby yet, you do have options. Come and talk to one of the experts about egg freezing. They also have free nurse phone consultations, which is a great way to start your fertility plan.