The medical field is always advancing with the evolution of technology and new research. New technologies and medical procedures emerge every now and then in the medical field. Among many such medical treatments, egg freezing is a medical procedure that is constantly gaining more and more use as time passes by. But what is egg freezing? It is a procedure where one or more eggs are retrieved from the ovaries and then frozen for further use. Now, since this field is relatively new, there are many questions surrounding it. One such key question is - does egg freezing stop periods? Furthermore, who can consider egg freezing?
In this blog, we discuss what egg freezing is, the common procedure for freezing your egg, the cost of egg freezing in Nepal, and whether or not egg freezing stops periods. Along with this, we also discuss who can consider egg freezing and the overall success rate for conceiving using frozen eggs.
Egg freezing or cryopreservation is a medical technique that is used by women to preserve their eggs, thereby preserving their fertility for a specified duration. As you may expect, this process allows women to preserve their fertility for the specified duration or until they are ready for conception.
Now, there are many reasons why you, as a woman, may choose this procedure. Some of the most common reasons include ageing, illness, and medical treatments that reduce overall fertility, such as chemotherapy. Once frozen, the preserved eggs remain in the frozen state until they are thawed and fertilized.
Regardless of why you may want to freeze your eggs, the ultimate goal remains the same, i.e., to preserve your fertility and store the viable eggs for future use. Although this process does not guarantee pregnancy, it still can improve your chances of successful fertilization and conception.
The specific process and timeline of freezing your eggs depends on individual circumstances. However, the general process and timeline remain the same. The good news here is that, for the most part, the egg-freezing process can be within two weeks. So, what is the common process for freezing eggs? The key steps included in freezing eggs are as follows:
Before you begin the process of egg freezing, you first need to go through a medical exam. In this process, you can expect to go through a transvaginal ultrasound for Antral Follicle Count (AFC). This is the process that checks your ovarian reserve and/or the number of eggs remaining in your ovaries. During this process, your experts shall provide you with an overview regarding the recommended procedure that allows them to retrieve the maximum number of eggs without overstimulating your ovaries or putting you at risk of OHSS.
After the medical examination, the doctors start the process of ovarian stimulation and monitoring. In this process, you can take birth control medication or other medications that are recommended by the doctors. Some of these medications may include estrogens, lupron, and aygestin. These medications help synchronize your follicles so that they respond properly to the stimulation medications. If you are recommended the medications, you generally start taking them during your period or immediately after your ovulation stops.
Once you take these medications, you shall be monitored to ensure that you can start the injections at the right time. After you are suitable for injections, you shall be provided with detailed instructions about how to self-inject medications. You need to inject medications for around 10 to 12 days in the belly portion. Do note that you shall be monitored regularly during this phase.
Once you clear the medication period, the next step is to retrieve the eggs. In this egg retrieval process, the eggs are retrieved from your ovaries. That said, the process is a bit more complicated than this. The general sequences of events in this process go as follows:
After the egg retrieval process, you might feel mild cramping, bloating, constipation, and vaginal spotting for the first 24 hours. That said, you can easily counter these symptoms with over-the-counter medications and some rest. As for the egg-freezing aspect, it is conducted within the first few hours after the retrieval process. The egg freezing process relies on rapidly freezing the egg by using liquid nitrogen to minimize the risk of ice crystals forming on the eggs.
Do note that these are just some of the key steps in the process of egg freezing. The specific steps taken depend on your individual circumstances.
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Now that you know what egg freezing is and its general procedure, you may wonder how much it costs. The overall cost of egg freezing in Nepal depends on many factors. Some of these factors include:
Keeping this into consideration, at Hardik IVF, a leading IVF center in Nepal, you can get the egg freezing service for a price of Npr 50,000 to Npr 60,000 per year. As you may have noticed, the cost of egg freezing is calculated each year. This is because it takes resources and advanced technology to store and preserve your eggs, and therefore, a one-time investment is inadequate to cover the cost of storing them for extended periods.
After discussing what egg freezing is, its process, and its cost, let's now talk about the key question - does egg freezing stop periods? The answer to this question is a big no. Egg freezing does not stop periods or have any long-term effects besides the loss of some eggs that you can use later for fertilization. As you may have seen, the process involves stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs for usage, but it is a one-time event. After the process, your body returns to normal menstrual cycle after egg freezing within just a few weeks.
Your periods continue as usual since this process only involves taking out the eggs that would have naturally matured during the process. Needless to say, it does not alter the overall function of your body or stop the interference in the regular hormonal rhythm. That said, it can delay your period during the process, which lasts around two weeks.
So, now that we have answered the key question here let's talk a bit about some additional information. The question here is about the types of people who can consider egg freezing. Well, in all honesty, egg freezing is not just limited to specific categories of people. Anyone can consider egg freezing as long as they have not crossed the peak fertility period and want to preserve their fertility. Keeping this in mind, some other categories of people who might want to consider egg freezing include:
Besides the ones we mentioned here, there can be several other cases in which someone would want to preserve their eggs. Regardless, we hope you understood the general gist of the reasons.
By now, you should have a general idea regarding what egg freezing is, how it works, and whether or not it stops periods. Along with this, you should also have a simple idea regarding the types of people who get involved in this process. Now, let's talk about the success rates of egg freezing before we conclude our talk.
While we cannot estimate the live birth rate using frozen eggs, we can provide you with a rough estimation of the rate of egg survival, fertilization, and conception. This is because, after conception, several additional variables, such as the lifestyle choices of the mother, her stress levels, nutrition intake, etc, come into play, which is rather hard to predict. So, keeping this aside, the average success rates after egg freezing are as follows:
| Success Aspect | Success Rate of Egg Freezing in Conceiving |
| Eggs that survive thawing | 90% |
| Eggs that can be successfully fertilized | 70% |
| Eggs that can be used for conceiving a child | 45% |
The medical world is constantly evolving at a rapid pace, and there are many new treatments that people have only recently gotten to know. One such form of treatment is egg freezing. Therefore, it is natural that people have questions regarding this treatment. One such question is whether egg freezing stops periods. Along with this, people also have several other questions regarding what this procedure is and its process, its cost, who can consider these processes, and its success rates.
In this blog, we provide you with a brief answer to the various questions regarding egg freezing in Nepal, including whether or not it stops periods, its common procedure, cost, and more. We hope you found this helpful. If you seek further insights into the various aspects of egg freezing and infertility-related issues, check out some of our other blogs.
Moreover, if you want the best egg-freezing service in Nepal, look no further than Hardik IVF and Fertility Center. Thank you for reading till the end.
No egg freezing does not stop your periods. Egg freezing is simply the process of stimulating your ovaries for a brief period, allowing them to produce multiple eggs before retrieving and freezing them. This process does not hamper the natural hormonal rhythm or effects period in any way in the long run.
Although egg freezing does not stop your period in the long run, it does delay your period for the duration of the process. This is because of the hormonal medications you need to take to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs for the egg retrieval process.
The best age to freeze eggs is before 35, as after this age, the quantity and quality start to deteriorate. Before 35, you have a relatively higher number of healthy eggs, making them ideal for freezing.
The cost of egg freezing in Nepal depends on many factors, such as medical procedures, medications, number of cycles, storage fees, and pretreatment testing. While considering all of these factors, the yearly cost of freezing and storing eggs is between Npr 50,000 and Npr 60,000 at Hardik IVF and Fertility Center.
Egg freezing is not painful at all. This process is typically considered mildly uncomfortable but not painful. That said, the experience does differ from person to person to person. Therefore, depending on your circumstances, you may face some pain. That said, you will be under anesthesia, so facing extreme pain is extremely rare.
When you freeze your eggs, they are stored in a safe container at a sub-zero temperature. After a few weeks after this process, your regular menstrual cycle continues as normal. You can then use the frozen eggs at a later date for fertilization and conception.
The data at the time of this writing indicates that the fetus that is conceived from the frozen eggs does not show any form of additional risk and is essentially the same as the one from natural pregnancy.
The specific time taken for a period to return after egg freezing depends on your circumstances. However, in general, it takes around one to two weeks for the period to return to normal after egg freezing.