Publication:

Social egg freezing: a gateway to fertility insurance

Background There is a decline in fertility due to delayed childbearing and hence, elective egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) offers a solution. Two primary techniques are used for human oocyte cryopreservation: slow freezing and vitrification. Vitrification is highlighted as a promising method. The present study was conducted to evaluate the pregnancy outcomes from oocytes that were frozen for social reasons and oocytes were frozen by method of vitrification.

Methods This retrospective study was conducted at RISAA IVF International Fertility Centre, New Delhi, collecting the data available over 6 years (2017-2023). It focused on freezing of oocytes and collected data on frozen, thawed, and fertilized oocytes, analysing thawing, survival, and fertilization rates by patient age group. Data was processed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS, with quantitative data presented as mean and standard deviation, and qualitative data as frequencies and proportions.

Results In this study of 25 patients who froze their oocytes, the average age at cryopreservation was 33.38 years. The mean age at implantation was 36.48 years. On average, patients had 10 retrieved oocytes. Most patients with thawed oocytes were in the 35-37 age group, although the highest survival and fertilization rates (86.9%) occurred in the above-40 age group. Established pregnancies were more common in the 35-37 age group, with 5 out of 10 pregnancies regardless of the day of embryo transfer.

Conclusions Elective egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) has emerged as a valuable solution to preserve fertility.