Author Topic: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?  (Read 20652 times)

Lyssa

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #50 on: August 13, 2015, 10:00:28 AM »
Excellent news.  And hell yes! to your original question.  Had I done this in my 30s I would have gone for IVF later.  I didn't read all the posts all the way down so maybe I'm missing some key info but I have researched all the options at 40 and using my own 30 year old eggs would have been my strong preference.  Not an option because it wasn't a well-known or affordable thing to freeze your eggs when I was 30.  Very happy it is for you.

That's what I'm thinking... Sure, it is going to be even better for the now 20 year olds, when the technology has been tried and tested, but what a great thing to be in the first generation for which this is even a possibility!

If you don't mind me asking (if you do, just tell me): Have you had a child at or past 40 and if yes, how has the pregnancy been going?

My youngest was born when I was 42 (we have 6 over a 21 year span) and the pg was essentially no different than the other pg's with the exception I had less energy.  But was that because I was 42 or because I was busy with 5 other kids?  I've never successfully answered that question in my head and she's 8.5 now.

Yes, caring for five kids could be a factor. :-)

Thanks for sharing!

totoro

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #51 on: August 13, 2015, 11:57:55 AM »
I haven't had a child past 40 but I would have had I had the eggs handy. 

I researched all sorts of options including trekking over to the Czech Republic for IVF but had I had eggs, man, I would have had two more by now.  You have no idea how difficult, invasive, and expensive IVF is when your eggs are not viable any more.

As it is I'm moving on and going to wait it out for grandkids.  I was sad about it for a bit but I've embraced other goals and passions now.

My advice to anyone even potentially interested in having kids past 35 would be to freeze their eggs as early as reasonably possible.

Lyssa

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #52 on: August 14, 2015, 04:58:55 AM »
I haven't had a child past 40 but I would have had I had the eggs handy. 

I researched all sorts of options including trekking over to the Czech Republic for IVF but had I had eggs, man, I would have had two more by now.  You have no idea how difficult, invasive, and expensive IVF is when your eggs are not viable any more.

As it is I'm moving on and going to wait it out for grandkids.  I was sad about it for a bit but I've embraced other goals and passions now.

My advice to anyone even potentially interested in having kids past 35 would be to freeze their eggs as early as reasonably possible.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience! Yes, things can get quite stressful late 30ies or early 40ies. Unfortunately, there are many couples who have to make the hard call whether to go to the Czeck Republic (or similar countries) or stay without (biological) kids.

Imho being a grandma is a lot more fun than the mixed blessings of parenting. :-) You can spoil the little ones rotten and leave all the heavy lifting to the parents.

Lyssa

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #53 on: August 14, 2015, 05:08:36 AM »

So, the success rate obviously depends on whether you are talking about the success rate of thawed ooctyes or transferred oocytes. In any case, the studies are a few years old and practices continue to improve.

I don't share any of this to dissuade you (or anyone) -- I just think the general opinion of success rates with frozen embryos tends to be a little more optimistic than the data suggest, and it's important to have an understanding of what may be in store so you can make an informed decision. It sounds like you are doing just that.


Not to split hairs, as I assume the above bolded bits are just (in effect) typos, but in case anyone less familiar with the processes involved is reading this, the order of the steps under discussion are --
1.  Surgically retrieve eggs
2.  Freeze eggs (if desired, to make delay possible)
3.  Thaw eggs (if they have been frozen)
4.  Fertilize eggs, creating embryos
5.  Freeze embryos (if desired, to make delay possible)
6.  Thaw embryos (if they have been frozen)
7.  Transfer embryos to a woman's uterus and hope that pregnancy results

(Things can go wrong at any of those stages)

To my knowledge, oocytes are never transferred (into a woman's body, with the possible exception of GIFT cycles -- gamete intrafallopian transfer, but I think those have largely fallen out of favor as a treatment option), and cryopreserving embryos (as opposed to oocytes) is something that's been done for a relatively longer time (decades, rather than years) and is relative well understood and more likely than oocyte cryopreservation to result in a pregnancy.  That is -- there are various options, with various implications and success rates, and it's easy to get them muddled in conversation on message boards like this one (but that can then generate further confusion among those not familiar with the options/terms).

Please also look into what goes on in order to prepare for harvesting.  My DW and I just went through this to prepare for IVF and it takes a full 2 months of drugs and injections and almost daily appointments.  This is a major commitment.

There are different protocols being used, depending on your individual situation. What you describe sounds like an (ultra-)long protocol. I'm on day 8 of fertility drugs (started on day 2 of my natural cycle), will only have two more injections and have had two gyn appointments in between. Harvesting is going to happen on Monday. The most rapid course of action (completely disregarding the menstruation cycle as well) is used in case of cancer patients who have to start chemo asap.

In any case, it is a major commitment and a challenge to fit into your regular schedule. Also, it takes some efforts to "hide" both drugs and their side effects since one does not want to discuss this with everybody.

dragoncar

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #54 on: August 14, 2015, 06:36:35 PM »
30ies or early 40ies

OT, but is this how you write it in Germany?  I've seen another variant among non-US folk, including 30-ties.

For the record, in English, it's '30s or 30s, although it can also be spelled out and pronounced "thirties"

MoonShadow

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #55 on: August 14, 2015, 06:39:50 PM »
I came here thinking it was a topic about how to save on groceries...

Me too...

Lyssa

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #56 on: August 14, 2015, 11:46:32 PM »
30ies or early 40ies

OT, but is this how you write it in Germany?  I've seen another variant among non-US folk, including 30-ties.

For the record, in English, it's '30s or 30s, although it can also be spelled out and pronounced "thirties"

I just transferred what we do to German numbers in English: 30er and 40er (but mostly used as in 90er to refer to the decade in question). Most Germans do not write so much in English that one could identify a certain custom. I'm working in English a lot (lawfirm) and its quite funny how habits creep across the language barrier. E.g. a lot of times someone uses the German word 'fein' as in 'I'm fine with...' which is the literal translation of an English expression but not the textbook use of 'fein'.

Thanks for pointing this out!

dragoncar

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #57 on: August 15, 2015, 01:21:45 PM »
30ies or early 40ies

OT, but is this how you write it in Germany?  I've seen another variant among non-US folk, including 30-ties.

For the record, in English, it's '30s or 30s, although it can also be spelled out and pronounced "thirties"

I just transferred what we do to German numbers in English: 30er and 40er (but mostly used as in 90er to refer to the decade in question). Most Germans do not write so much in English that one could identify a certain custom. I'm working in English a lot (lawfirm) and its quite funny how habits creep across the language barrier. E.g. a lot of times someone uses the German word 'fein' as in 'I'm fine with...' which is the literal translation of an English expression but not the textbook use of 'fein'.

Thanks for pointing this out!

That's really interesting, thanks.  I guess 30ies looks strange to me, because I see 30 and my brain goes "thirty" then I see "ies" and my brain goes "thirty-ies"

Lyssa

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Re: Freezing eggs - has anybody done it?
« Reply #58 on: August 19, 2015, 01:48:31 AM »
First round is finished!

15 eggs harvested, 14 frozen. All of them matured but just a little past their prime (despite surgery having been two days earlier than initially planned). Apparently, follicles grow and mature rather fast in my case. Something to take into account when planning the next cycle.

Surgery itself has been easy on me. About 30 min in sedation, a little bit of abdominal pain and two days of light bleeding. Nothing to be afraid of.

I'm going to take a break of 1-2 months now. But I'm certainly going to continue with this until I feel reasonably secure with the number and quality of stored eggs.

I've chatted with a "normal" IVF patient in the "waking room" when we we were both sipping our cups of tea that you need to finish before trying to get up. She was 38 and congratulated me for thinking ahead, saying she wished the method would have been known and available when she was still younger.