The source and appearance of egg freezing, from how the process works to how much it costs

And the birth rate in the United States is Near the historic lowsMore and more American women are freezing eggs to maintain fertility.

From 6,000 people in 2014 to more than 39,000 in 2023, the number of procedures has exceeded six times. The process became a recognized practice only 12 years ago, allowing women to freeze their eggs and some say their biological clocks. Women who want children but are not ready yet see it as a way to keep their choices later.

Dr. Tomer Singer, head of reproductive endocrinology and infertility systems at Northwell Health, said the process once revolved around it, as if frozen eggs meant no problem was solved in the patient's lives, but that was not the case.

“It's almost given,” Singh said. “'I want to freeze my eggs. I won't compromise on the wrong guy. '”

How Egg Freeze Works

Women spend nearly two weeks giving themselves a daily hormone injection, sometimes a few of the day – before getting the eggs back. These lenses induce the ovaries to mature multiple follicles that contain eggs.

The surgeon will then use a tiny needle to enter the fluid in these follicles. The liquid was taken to an embryology laboratory, where embryologists performed the exquisite work of searching for eggs. They manipulate tiny pipettes under a microscope to find and isolate egg cells.

Once found, place the eggs on a small special straw, then immerse them in liquid nitrogen and store them in a water tank of -320 degrees Fahrenheit. The eggs may stay there until their owner is ready to thaw, add sperm and turn it into an embryo, which is actually the second half of IVF.

According to data so far, there is no difference in the health of babies born from frozen eggs, as with IVF.

How much does it cost to freeze eggs?

Frozen eggs are expensive. One cycle, including medicine, cost Average $12,000 to $15,000 per year, plus another $500 to $1,000 in storage. The eggs are later thawed and fertilized for an additional $10,000.

Back to 2014Apple and Facebook made headlines when they began offering egg freezing as a coverage benefit for employees. Today, more than a third of the largest companies in the U.S. (people with 20,000 employees) cover egg freezing, with the most important of the 60-minute parent company.

Why more women turn to egg freezing

While more and more companies cover egg freezing, many women (such as Tina Rampino) pay out for their money. Rampino's doctor advises the procedure during a routine visit at the age of 35 and tells her that she has no time.

“Whenever you want to get married, you can get married, but you can't have children forever,” Lanpinot recalled her gynecologist.

Even though the cost is Rampino, it's worth it for Rampino.

Yasmine Higbee, 29, works in consulting and has a serious boyfriend. She is sure she wants to have a baby, but she is not ready. She wanted to enjoy herself with her partner instead of rushing to have a baby, so she turned to the egg freezing.

Healthcare administrator Nameetha Jacob, 38, said she hasn't prepared for her children yet because she hasn't found a suitable partner. She knew she was going to be an older mother, so Jacob thought frozen eggs were similar to insurance. Jacob freezes her egg twice, once at 34 and again at 36.

“You don't have the pressure to find someone, settle down and get married,” Jacob said. “You don't hear ticking often.”

Biological clock and egg freezing

The biological clock is the reality faced by every woman. Dr. Lucky Sekhon, a fertility expert at the New York RMA, said. Never made new, eggs cannot be fixed or repaired. This number is always falling.

“Even before you were born, it almost started to decrease,” Sekene said. “You are the fetus in the uterus of the mother at 20 weeks, and that's the peak number of your eggs is between 6 and 7 million.”

The numbers fall from there.

When the egg is frozen, it stops aging, which is important because as women age, the egg quality will also decrease. Even at peak fertility rates, in women in their 20s, about 25% of eggs combined with sperm can produce embryos with chromosomal abnormalities and can lead to miscarriage. The percentage increases from there.

The late 1930s were a turning point, Sekhon said, when about half of the eggs (fertilized) in a woman's life will become abnormal embryos. Some women mistakenly believe that their eggs will be healthy if they live a healthy lifestyle, do yoga and avoid smoking.

“And I had to explain to them that we don't have data that shows you can affect your egg quality in this way,” Sekhon said.

She said the best time to freeze eggs is when a woman is in her 20s.

“Because that's when you can have the lowest genetic error rate in the embryo that you cause in these eggs,” Sekhon said. “You'll have more eggs at that time.”