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Pregnancy is a rewarding experience, but it is also one that requires financial, mental and emotional investments besides a physical one. This is the reason why many women delay their pregnancies. They prefer to be monetarily stable and emotionally ready before becoming a mother. But, delayed pregnancies are known to affect the health of the mother and her child, not to mention that conceiving a baby beyond a certain age can itself be difficult for most women. In such a scenario, egg freezing becomes the best option. It is a choice being made by many lately.
Talking about the process and what it entails, Dr Tanaya, aka Dr 'Cuterus', made an informative video that she shared on Instagram. In the video, the doctor answered five pressing questions about egg freezing; read on.
"Anybody! As long as you want to have a child in the future, are not ready for it right now, and have ovaries. You don't have to be married [in order to freeze your eggs]," the doctor said in the video.
Dr Tanaya said you can start by speaking with a fertility specialist or an embryologist, who will guide you and do the procedure for you.
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"The earlier you do it, the better. When you are younger, you have more eggs and they are higher in quality. A lot of people start thinking of freezing their eggs after they are 35 or in their 40s. That is not the right time. Ideally, you would want to do it before the age of 32 or even 35," said the doctor.
Dr Tanaya pointed out that the procedure is expensive, and may cost you anywhere between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for the process and the storage. "Plus, there are annual storage costs on top of this."
"Yes," said the expert. She explained that every single month, the ovaries develop lots of eggs, out of which one is released, and it becomes the biggest and strongest. "What we do [during egg freezing procedure] is, we give you medicines from the outside that make all of these eggs big and strong. And, with a small procedure, we pick out all of these eggs and then put them in the freezer."
Dr Tanaya answered some more questions in the comments, such as if all the eggs are taken out, if the menstrual cycle is affected. "No effect. Every month, your body anyway develops several eggs, out of which only one is released. With freezing, the doctors simply make all these eggs develop to full maturity and take all those out. Instead of one egg ovulating, it is several ovulating," she wrote.
As for why people freeze their eggs in the first place, the doctor said, "They want children in the future, but are not in a position to have them right now. It's a way of delaying fertility."
One person asked that since we have limited eggs, if we take out all of them from the ovary, can we then conceive naturally? "You can't have a natural conception with frozen eggs. It will have to be assisted," the doctor responded.
"Wouldn't the stomach bulge if all these eggs are 'becoming strong' at once?" someone asked. The doctor responded: "People can experience bloating when undergoing the procedure, but it's only a matter of one cycle."
