Fertility Preservation center in Lucknow
Fertility Preservation is the process of preserving eggs, sperm, or reproduction tissue to help you retain your fertility or ability to procreate in the future. People who have certain diseases or disorders that can affect their fertility can largely benefit from fertility preservation.
What are the fertility preservation options for men and women?
Fertility Preservation options for males include:
- ● Sperm Cryopreservation
Fertility Preservation Options for women include:
- ● Embryo Freezing
- ● Egg Freezing
What is Sperm Cryopreservation?
Sperm Cryopreservation is a process in which a male provides a sample of his semen. The sample is then frozen and stored for use in the future. Indications of sperm freezing –
Men undergoing any urology surgery which can hamper the reproductive tract and cause infertility -Before cancer treatment as undergoing surgery /chemotherapy or radiotherapy hampers the sperm and fertility potential for men so that they can use the frozen sperms later.
What is Embryo Freezing?
Also known as Embryo Cryopreservation, this method is the most common and successful option for preserving a woman’s fertility. In this process, the doctor first removes eggs from the ovaries. After that, the eggs are fertilized with a sperm in a lab through a process called In Vitro Fertilization. Lastly, the resulting embryos are frozen and stored for future use.
What is Egg Freezing?
Egg Freezing is also known as oocyte cryopreservation. It is a method used to save a woman’s ability to get pregnant at any time in the future. In this process, the eggs are harvested from the woman’s ovaries, frozen unfertilized, and then stored for later use.
Egg freezing is a good option for:
- ● Women who are between 30-35 years of age and have not been able to find a suitable partner for marriage, or focusing on career and are not ready to get pregnant now but want to get pregnant in the future.
- ● Women undergoing cancer surgery /radiotherapy /chemotherapy as these drugs are toxic to the eggs and hence can impair a women’s reproductive potential
- ● Women undergoing surgery requiring removal of the organs like ovaries which produce eggs as after surgery a patient will not be able to procreate a child in case her eggs are not frozen.
For the process of egg freezing, sperm are not required as eggs are not fertilized before they are frozen. However, you may need fertility drugs to ensure ovulation for the production of multiple eggs for retrieval.
Fertility Preservation in Cancer Patients
Certain cancers and their treatments can harm fertility in males and females. When a person with cancer who wishes to have children post-treatment, planning is a must. Fertility preservation is a good way to save or protect eggs, sperm, and reproductive tissue for use in the future.
For women with certain types of cancer, surgery can result in the removal of organs that are needed for pregnancy. Cancer treatment can also change the hormone levels or cause damage to the female’s eggs. These changes and effects can lead to loss of fertility in some of the females during their treatment. This loss of fertility can either be temporary or permanent.
When undergoing treatment for cancer, you cannot assume that your doctor will discuss your fertility with you. As the doctors may or may not bring it, you have to make it a point to discuss with your doctor about preserving fertility before your cancer surgery or before you start your treatment.
