“Freezing your eggs can affect your fertility”
FALSE. A healthy woman has a reserve of about 400,000 eggs. From the onset of her period, the eggs keep maturing at a rate of about one per 28 days. During an egg freezing treatment, only some eggs are extracted. It is perfectly possible to get pregnant the normal way after having had some of your eggs frozen.
“Your body will suffer, you will gain a lot of weight, menopause will come sooner…”
FALSE. The treatment is for a short time only, which means there are no side effects, nor will it have any effect on when your menopause begins. Nevertheless, it is very important that you follow your doctor’s instructions to the letter.
“Women who wish to postpone maternity can freeze their eggs”
TRUE. At present we do recommend freezing of eggs to women who wish to postpone maternity for personal or professional reasons. This way they avoid the effect ageing will have on their fertility.
“You can freeze your eggs even if you are taking oral contraceptives, or have an IUD”
TRUE. Don’t worry, there is no reason why you should not be able to start a stimulation phase even if you are using oral contraceptives. Even having an IUD is not incompatible with freezing your eggs. If your IUD is the hormone version, your gynaecologist will explain what your different options are.
“You’ ll be able to see the eggs that have been vitrified”
TRUE. During the process, our biologists will take a photo of your eggs, which we will digitise and give to you so that you have something you can always remember.
“Vitrification affects the egg, altering it in some way”
FALSE. If they are not used, you can transfer your eggs by signing an agreement for them to be used for donation for reproductive purposes, or simply request that the conservation process be terminated – if you fulfil the criteria in place for doing so. In any case: you decide what will happen to your eggs, as long as what you decide falls within the legal framework established by Spanish law.
“You will be able to have access to your frozen eggs throughout your fertile life”
TRUE. In agreement with the law for assisted reproduction, once the eggs are frozen they can be conserved during the woman’s entire fertile life.
“If you end up deciding not to use your frozen eggs, you can transfer them”
TRUE. If they are not used, you can transfer your eggs by signing an agreement for them to be used for donation for reproductive purposes, or simply request that the conservation process be terminated – if you fulfil the criteria in place for doing so. In any case: you decide what will happen to your eggs, as long as what you decide falls within the legal framework established by Spanish law.
“Your pregnancy will be the same as for any other woman”
TRUE. In order to become pregnant with your frozen eggs – once that day has come – we must first, thaw them and then inseminate them. Next, they are incubated and finally we implant them. From that moment on, your pregnancy will be the same as for any other woman.
“Children who are born from a frozen egg are healthy”
TRUE. With the scientific evidence available at present we are able to state that the health of children born thanks to the use of assisted reproduction techniques – among which we find the freezing of eggs – is the same as for those children who are born naturally.
“If you want to, you can finance your treatment”
TRUE. You can finance your treatment up to a maximum of twelve monthly payments. Find out more information on prices using our web page. This includes an initial consultation with a doctor, follow-up of the preparation of your ovaries, follicular aspiration, which is carried out in an operating theatre under a general anaesthetic and the laboratory process, as well as the freezing and cryopreservation of your eggs for a period of two years.
