There are a number of reasons why people need to preserve eggs or semen for the future. Some of the of the most common are gynecological problems, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or certain cancer surgeries, which can destroy your fertility.
For some women in their 30s who don’t have a partner or aren’t ready to start a family yet, it can be an opportunity to create their own family a little bit further down the track.
Men who are planning a vasectomy may want to know about preserving semen in case their future circumstances change.
Whatever the reason, Life Fertility will help you understand your options and their advantages and disadvantages.
Some of the treatments that may open the door for a future family:
Cryopreservation (freezing eggs or embryos)
For many women who are not yet ready to get pregnant or are about to undergo surgery or cancer treatment that will affect their reproductive system, freezing eggs or embryos is an opportunity to create a family in the future.
There are multiple factors that will impact the success rates of IVF after egg freezing. These include:
- The quality of the eggs, including your age when they are extracted.
- How good the clinic is at successfully freezing and thawing eggs.
- The number of eggs that are stored.
- The number of embryos that can be created from those eggs and subsequently transferred to the uterus.
Success rates are improving all the time, but there is no guarantee of success. If you are considering freezing your eggs you should also explore freezing embryos. Embryos can be created using your partner’s sperm or donor sperm. The success rates from frozen embryos are significantly higher than those obtained after freezing eggs. See our fact sheet.
Semen banking
We can freeze semen for men who are away from home for long periods so their partners can undergo fertility treatment or IVF in their absence. We can also store semen for men undergoing cancer treatment or a vasectomy. Semen generally remains effective for at least 10 years in storage with a slight decline over time beyond that.
Get in touch today for friendly advice on your situation.