Egg Freezing

The cryopreservation of oocytes and ovarian tissue is a method whose progress, compared to sperm freezing, has been relatively slow. This is because oocytes are particularly sensitive to the freeze-thaw cycle. However, the ever-increasing number of young women with premature ovarian failure, combined with the improvement of cryoprotective agents, has made the cryopreservation of unfertilized oocytes a viable alternative today.

Until recently, the oocytes of these women could be fertilized with the husband’s sperm and cryopreserved as embryos, a condition that is not always feasible since many patients are young, meaning there is no spouse to provide the sperm. It should be emphasized that despite the progress made in the method of oocyte cryopreservation, it is important for patients to be responsibly informed about both the benefits and the concerns that arise.