With current fertility preservation techniques, maternity planning is within everyone's reach. But what is the ideal age to do a vitrification treatment?
How do I know what my ovarian reserve is?
The battle against the biological clock
We are born with a genetically determined reserve of oocytes, which is depleted throughout our lives. The decline rate of the ovarian reserve is relatively variable between one person and another. In general, from the age of 35, it begins to decrease and from the age of 38, the descent is much more pronounced.
At the same time, there is also a deterioration in its quality. The probabilities of oocytes with chromosomal alterations are higher. That means minor capacity to generate embryos which could lead to pregnancy.
What is the ideal age to freeze eggs?
The truth is, there is no ideal age, but the right approach would be to perform it before the age of 36, when the number and the quality of the ovarian reserve is still high enough.
In this way, we will ensure a higher survival rate at thawing and a higher probability of achieving pregnancy in the future.
In any case, it is necessary to make a prior assessment of the ovarian reserve.
Reasons for a vitrification
More and more women are considering late motherhood, whether due to work matters, economic reasons or lack of a partner. But, it is also a treatment especially indicated in the following cases:
- Women with repetitive surgeries on the ovary, such as endometriosis.
- Women whose reproductive capacity is threatened by a disease such as cancer or even by the effects of a chemotherapy treatment that can affect the ovarian reserve.
Lengthening the reproductive clock is possible with the vitrification of oocytes.
However, to this day there is not enough social awareness about the importance of fertility preservation. In Barcelona IVF, we offer all the information you may need if you have still doubts about this method.