The Egg Freezing Process

Step 1: Ovarian suppression

Ovarian suppression lasts for 2-4 weeks. We use birth control pills to temporarily turn off your natural hormones (this step may possibly be skipped in urgent cases, such as prior to cancer therapy).

Step 2: Ovarian stimulation

Ovarian stimulation lasts between 10-14 days. At this point, self-injected hormone therapy is utilized to stimulate the ovaries and develop multiple mature eggs in both ovaries. During this period, you will need to make 5 – 7 visits to the physician’s office for ultrasounds and bloodwork to monitor your progress.

Step 3: Ovulation induction

When the ovarian follicles are determined to have reached appropriate maturity, ovulation is triggered with a specific medication, where specific timing is vital to your success.

Step 4: Egg retrieval

Exactly 36 hours after ovulation induction, your eggs are harvested and removed with a needle guided through a vaginal ultrasound device. This procedure is done under intravenous sedation (IV) and is generally painless. Some women are a little sore after the procedure and experience some bloating.

Step 5: Egg vitrification 

Following the retrieval, the eggs are evaluated to assure that only mature eggs are frozen in a process called vitrification. Because more eggs are matured during the stimulation process than would be during a regular cycle, some of your retrieved eggs will not be mature and therefore will be unable to be frozen. This is normal and expected. Your mature eggs will be vitrified by our in-house experienced embryologists.

Vitrification is a process in which the liquid in the egg is removed and replaced with a cryoprotectant. Once the egg is loaded with cryoprotectant it is submerged in liquid nitrogen (-196°C / -320.8°F) and the egg is “flash frozen”. Once your eggs are frozen, we store them in our storage tanks and you can use them when you are ready to become a parent.