Fertility Preservation & Storage

Kids Bring the Best in Us- Try Preserving Your Fertility

Couples may face a series of challenges when it comes to starting a family of their own. Both the partners should be in a healthy condition, the financial situation should be favorable, and so on. Even when all these factors favor them, there are some couples who are still not ready to settle down. Fertility preservation is a process of protecting the egg, sperm, or reproductive tissues so that it could be used later when a couple is ready to start a family.

People with disorders that affect their fertility, patients undergoing treatment for cancer also opt this method.

Egg freezing and Storage

Egg freezing involves storing and freezing of unfertilized eggs obtained through ovarian stimulation. The first step in the process is the injection of hormones by the patient herself for about ten days to induce ovarian stimulation. The eggs are retrieved under local anesthesia. The unfertilized eggs are stored and frozen for future use.

Why consider Egg Freezing?

• The number of eggs steadily decreases as a woman ages. The process ensures that the patient has enough sample to have biological children of her own.
• The quality of eggs decreases with age. By freezing the eggs, the patient can protect the quality of the egg.
• The patient can choose when to be a mother since her eggs are preserved and in good health.

Embryo Freezing and Storage

The procedure focuses on freezing and storing of embryos. The patient has to undergo a cycle of In-Vitro Fertilization, which includes ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval, before freezing the embryo. Following are those who benefit from embryo freezing:

• People who suffer from genetic disorders.
• People who are about to undergo chemotherapy.
• People who take medications that affect fertility.
• Same-sex couples who wish to start a family.

Sperm Freezing

Sperm freezing is one of the effective methods to ensure fertility in men. The frozen sperms could be used by the couples to have kids of their own or it could be donated to the sperm bank. The donated sperm is quarantined for a period of 3-6 months and checked for infections. Frozen sperms come into play under the following situations:

• When the patient suffers from any condition that affects his fertility.
• When the patient has a low sperm count or the sperms are of inferior quality.
• When the person has decided to start a family at a later stage in life.

Oncology Patients

A patient undergoing cancer treatment can face fertility issues. Chemotherapy can sometimes damage the functioning of the ovaries and testis. But a patient undergoing these treatments still have a chance at being a parent. They can choose one of the below-mentioned methods to have a child of their own.

• Egg freezing and embryo freezing.
• Ovarian tissue freezing where the ovarian tissue is removed and cut into small strips and frozen and stored.
• Sperm banking where samples of semen are collected. The sperms are extracted and then frozen and stored.

Dr. Vivek Vijayakumar is one of the very few dedicated doctors who look into every patient’s need and provide effective treatment. Treatment at the right time can certainly give you the desired result. Choose the most effective treatment without fail.