Despite our continued scientific and technological advancements we make every single year, age still matters when it comes to the freezing of human eggs today. No matter how advanced our harvesting and fertility treatment options may be, there is no cure for the viability and quality of eggs as they decline while women get older. More women than ever before are going to school longer, pursuing careers, and putting themselves first before child-rearing. The unfortunate reality is that women’s biological clock continues to decline with each passing year.
The Ovarian Reserve
Unlike men, who continue to produce sperm over their lifetime, women have a finite supply of eggs, otherwise known as an ovarian reserve. As a woman ages, both the quantity and quality of her eggs decline, impacting her ability to conceive a child in later years. According to the Center for Disease Control, around the age of 35, and inflection happens, making it harder to conceive with each passing year. By the time a woman reaches 40, her ability to conceive with each pregnancy cycle decreases to just 5 percent.
That may leave you wondering: when is it the right time to freeze my eggs?
Egg Freezing 101
To achieve optimal quality and quantity of the eggs, the best time for a woman to preserve her ovarian stock is in her 20s to mid-30s. These ages are when women are at their “peak fertility window,” ensuring a lower chance of abnormalities in the conception and pregnancy process.
The problem here is that when women are around the age of 25, they don’t foresee their future as needing egg freezing. They assume they have 10-years to have children and start a family the traditional way. As a result, studies have found that many women seek egg-freezing services in their late 30s when their ovarian reserves are diminished and of low quality. Women over the age of 35 may have to do more than one cycle in order to preserve enough eggs to achieve a live birth.
FrzMyEggs
Every woman is different, and every woman has different biological tendencies, genes, and qualities that make her either more or less habitable for pregnancy. For all the women out there who need help in the egg freezing decision process, there is a new app, FrzMyEggs, that is quite simply a decision aid tool for women who are interested in freezing their eggs for personal or medical reasons. The app provides verified information that goes over egg freezing and success rates, plus a step-by-step guide of the procedure involved in the process.
Most importantly, the app comes with a calculator, plus a decision aid, that helps women calculate their best harvesting years. It also supports them in making an egg freezing decision based on their own unique circumstances.
Why Age Matters
In this case: age does matter. If you’re worried that your vital egg freezing years are passing you by, check out this new app and consult a physician with further questions about how you can freeze your eggs.
References
- FrzMyEggs app
- “What age should I freeze my eggs,” Eggsurance