When Should I Freeze My Eggs?

You’ve likely heard the old adage about a ticking biological clock, which can place pressure on you during a time when having children just isn’t ideal. If you find yourself in a situation where you want to delay having children but you’re worried about your future fertility, egg freezing can provide an extra layer of insurance.

Here at NOVA IVF, our fertility specialists Richard Schmidt, MD, and Meera Shah, MD and our team understand the many challenges that come with building a family, and we’re here to help. 

Through our expert egg-freezing services, also called oocyte cryopreservation, we can harvest your eggs now and preserve them until you’re ready.

To give you an idea of when egg freezing may be a good idea, we review some of the more common reasons women come to us.

Not quite there, yet

Perhaps you’re midcareer or you haven’t yet created the foundational family unit you desire, but you know you want to have children at some point in the future. You’re also between the ages of 30 and 35, and you’re worried about the natural decline in egg quality that comes with age.

If this sounds familiar, egg freezing is a perfect way to preserve your more viable eggs now for use later.

You’re ready now, but you struggle with infertility

Another scenario we encounter quite often are women ages 30-40 who’ve found their partners and are trying to conceive, to no avail. If you find yourself in this situation, we offer several approaches to helping you achieve the family of your dreams, including in vitro fertilization and egg freezing.

Facing health problems

Women turn to egg freezing as a fertility-preservation technique before they undergo invasive medical treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Some cancer treatments can have a serious impact on the function of your ovaries and may even send you into early menopause. 

If you know that these are potential side effects, you can turn to egg freezing before your treatments to ensure that you still have eggs to work with after your health care issues are resolved.

Another issue we encounter is premature ovarian insufficiency (early menopause), which can be brought on by the cancer treatments we reference above or other health issues. Or the problem may simply be genetic. 

Whatever the cause, if your ovaries are showing signs of shutting down prematurely, egg freezing can preserve viable eggs before the decline.

It’s your decision

Ultimately, egg freezing is a very personal choice, and there are many reasons outside of what we’ve outlined here for why women choose to freeze their eggs. Whatever your reasons, we’re happy to sit down with you to discuss whether egg freezing is a good option. 

To get started, simply contact our office in Mountain View, California, to set up a consultation.