LEARN MORE ABOUT EGG FREEZING
LEARNING MORE ABOUT YOUR FERTILITY WITH PROLOGUE
If you’re concerned about your fertility, or trying to work out when you will fit starting a family into the timeline of your busy and complex life, then the team at Prologue is here to help you! Together we can look at how we might assess your fertility using various fertility tests and factors such as the AMH test, your antral follicle count and your age. Based on these, we can look at the best available data to predict your current chances of conceiving a pregnancy and how this may change with time. We can then discuss your options and empower you with the knowledge to make decisions that will fit best for you now, and in the future.
If you’re exploring our website, then you’re interested in your fertility and we at Prologue applaud you for it.
The team at Prologue believes every woman should be aware of the factors that affect her fertility and it’s not as simple as many think. A woman’s fertility is not only dependent on how many eggs she has left, but even more so on the quality of those eggs. Furthermore, there is no one specific accurate fertility test or way for assessing egg quality. The biggest influence on the probability an egg has to go on and create a pregnancy, is the age of the woman it belongs to. All of this means, correctly assessing how “fertile” you are, is complex. In particular, the older you are, the more caution that needs to be taken when using this information alone to base any lifestyle choice, such as delaying having a child.
FERTILITY PLANNING WITH PROLOGUE
At Prologue, we understand that many women of the current reproductive generation have an unprecedented set of financial, academic, lifestyle and career pressures that mean it is increasingly common to delay starting a family, either by choice or by circumstance. If you end up not having a child, we want this to be the product of an educated decision rather than the result of you being a victim of an age related decline in fertility where no timely attempt was made to avoid this.
From our experience we know that the availability and success of egg freezing is not as widely known amongst women as it should be. Compounding this unfortunate situation, is that studies consistently show that women significantly and scarily overestimate the ability of IVF to counteract the decline in fertility that occurs with age.
For these reasons, we recommend that as she approaches the age of 30, every woman should take the time to consider her reproductive intent and how this aligns with her current set of life circumstances. If upon reflection the conclusion to this introspection is “yes I will try for a baby within the next year” or “no I do not want children” then the course of action is clear. If however, the response is the more common and understandable “I’m not sure if I’ll want children” or “I know I want them but now is not a good time”, then we would highly recommend coming in to see us at Prologue so we can discuss your fertility with the time and accuracy it deserves.
Having Prologue in your corner does not mean we will try and convince you to freeze your eggs, although you may end up choosing to do this. Rather we will further discuss your desires, uncertainties and concerns regarding your fertility. We will educate you about your fertility, how it is affected by age and what options you have to preserve it as well as their likelihood of success. We can discuss in detail the egg freezing process, the relationship between the number of eggs collected and the probability of these giving you a baby, as well as the costs involved in egg freezing. It also often becomes relevant to discuss applicability and limitations of the AMH test as well as other ways you may be able to assess your fertility. The overall aim of our coming together, will be to empower you with the information, resources and our support to help you in facing the complex but very important decisions you need to make, in order to take control over your fertility.
WHY CONSIDER EGG FREEZING?
There are several important reasons why a woman may consider preserving her fertility in the form of egg freezing.
Finding A Partner:
First of all, let’s address the topic of finding a partner. At Prologue we reject the assumption that everybody wants or needs to have a partner in order to start a family! Instead we recognise that there are many ways of starting a family and respect them all equally. A totally valid option for a woman is to have children when she is not in a relationship and thankfully there are many options that will allow her to do so …..and egg freezing happens to be one of them! Likewise, we also appreciate that many women do wish to start a family in partnership with someone else and waiting for the right relationship is one of the most common reasons women delay childbearing. Egg freezing in this situation also affords a woman more time for that right partner, be it a male or female, to come along.
Career Advancement and Personal Goals
Many women may wish to focus on their education or career in their younger years. Egg freezing allows them to postpone starting a family until they are ready without being as vulnerable to the decline of their fertility as they age.
Health Conditions And Medical Treatments
Certain medical conditions and treatments, such as cancer and chemotherapy or endometriosis requiring surgery, can significantly impact fertility. Egg freezing before undergoing such treatments can preserve the option of having biological children in the future.
Delaying Parenthood
Some people may not feel emotionally or financially ready to start a family at a younger age. Egg freezing offers them the opportunity to delay parenthood until they are in a more stable and suitable life situation.
Age-Related Fertility Decline
Female fertility starts to decline gradually after the age of 30 and significantly decreases after the age of 35. By freezing their eggs at a younger age, women can increase their chances of achieving a pregnancy later in life
Empowerment and Autonomy
Egg freezing offers individuals greater control over their reproductive choices, empowering them to make informed decisions about when and how they want to become parents.
Planning Family Size
Many women start a family in their late thirties. If they are wanting two or three children, starting a family at this age places them at serious risk of being caught short by the decline in their egg quality. Having eggs in the freezer can be very useful to maximise your chances of having your second or third child after you have conceived your first naturally.
LGBTQ+ identifying patients
Many patients who identify as LGBTQ+ will have the need for fertility treatment to start a family. With this in mind, it often makes good sense for these patients who have ovaries to freeze their eggs early. Then, these young and excellent quality eggs can be used down the track in fertility treatment, when they are ready to start a family.
We at Prologue totally acknowledge that while egg freezing can be a proactive and empowering option for many women who wish to preserve their fertility, it is not suitable for everyone. The success and applicability of egg freezing depends on numerous factors such as a woman's age at the time of egg freezing along with the number and quality of eggs retrieved. We highly recommend for those women who are considering egg freezing, to consult with a Prologue Fertility Specialist. That way, we can all make sure they understand the process as well as the potential risks and have realistic expectations based on their particular circumstances and baseline fertility.
