Written by Nada Najid:
Actress Nahed El Sebaei revealed during her interview on the “Sary Ink” program, broadcast on the “Cairo Wal Nas” channel, that she froze her eggs after the insistence of her mother, the late producer Nahed Farid Shawqi.
In the following lines, Al-Consulto presents a comprehensive guide to the egg freezing process, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.
What is the egg freezing process?
A modern medical procedure in which mature eggs are extracted and frozen for future use. Women usually accept this operation for many reasons, the most prominent of which are:
Decreased fertility as a result of some health problems, such as kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, and lupus.
– Undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, because they negatively affect ovarian activity and egg quality.
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Steps for egg freezing
The egg freezing process goes through the following steps:
1- The woman performs a set of tests and analyses, including:
– Blood tests.
– Ultrasound.
– Screening for infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C.
2- Requiring the woman to receive hormonal injections for 10 days, to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs.
3- The woman undergoes an ultrasound examination every 3 days to determine the extent of egg development.
4- The eggs are removed one by one in a process that takes between 15 and 20 minutes, using a special needle, under general anesthesia.
5- Subjecting the collected eggs to a process called vitrification, which ensures that ice crystals do not form on them.
6- Place the eggs in storage and freezing containers filled with liquid nitrogen.
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How long do eggs stay frozen?
Eggs can remain frozen forever, but women usually use them after 3 to 10 years.
How to fertilize frozen eggs
The frozen egg is thawed, then fertilized with sperm, to form an embryo that develops in the laboratory for 5 or 6 days.
– Implanting the embryo into the woman’s uterus using a hollow, flexible speculum that passes through the vagina under ultrasound guidance.
Number of eggs needed for freezing
It is ideal to freeze as many eggs as possible, because some eggs do not survive the thawing process, but it depends on each woman’s ovarian reserve, age, and other medical conditions.
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Success rate of frozen egg fertilization
According to empirical evidence, each frozen egg has a chance of turning into an embryo after fertilization by sperm of between 4.5 and 12%.
Risks of egg freezing
There are side effects of the egg freezing process, including:
– Menstrual-like symptoms: Hormone injections can cause bloating, irritation, cramping, and hot and cold flashes.
– Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: It occurs in about 5% of cases, but is more common in women with polycystic ovaries.
– Needle punctures: There is less than 1% risk of puncturing the intestine, bladder, uterus, cervix, or blood vessels during egg removal.
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