Egg freezing gives you the flexibility to have a baby when you’re ready

More women are waiting to become mothers, but this can sometimes be a problem due to the female biological clock. Both egg (oocyte) quality and quantity decrease over time, which can make it more difficult to conceive and deliver a healthy baby. Thankfully, ArkLaTex Fertility and Reproductive Medicine offers egg freezing. At our North Louisiana fertility center, you can freeze your eggs now for use later.

Who is a good candidate for egg freezing?

There are two main reasons to consider freezing oocytes. The first is for medical fertility preservation, which our North Louisiana fertility center recommends for patients who are preparing to undergo certain medical treatments. For example, cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, can damage fertility. As a result, Dr. Vandermolen often presents fertility preservation as an option before beginning treatment.

The second reason to consider egg freezing is for social reasons. Women tend to pursue social, or elective, freezing for several reasons.

• Focusing on educational or career goals
• Searching for a partner to have children with
• Pursuing personal goals or travel
• Preparing for military deployment

Fertility preservation can help women in all these situations preserve their eggs for future family building at our fertility center.

What is the process to freeze your eggs?

Our North Louisiana fertility center uses the latest, proven technology and techniques for egg freezing. As such, when you freeze your eggs, you can expect the following steps.

• First, you’ll take ovarian stimulation medications to stimulate the growth of multiple follicles containing many eggs.
• Dr. Vandermolen will retrieve the mature eggs during a short, outpatient procedure, which will involve giving you IV sedation.
• Our laboratory team will use a flash-freezing technique called vitrification to freeze your eggs. This technique prevents the formation of damaging ice crystals.

With fertility preservation, you can store your eggs for months, years or even decades. When you’re ready to conceive, we will thaw your eggs, fertilize them with sperm from your partner or a donor, and then transfer a resulting embryo as part of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.

Contact us if you’d like more information about how to freeze your eggs. Our North Louisiana fertility center team has appointments available to discuss your options.