Freezing one’s eggs has become more common, but a new study suggests that this method may not be the most ideal.
The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Center for Human Reproduction in New York, suggests that the freezing or thawing process may actually damage eggs and could reduce a woman’s chance of becoming a mother, according to the U.K. publication The Telegraph.
“Egg quality may be negatively affected by cryopreservation and thawing,” said lead author Dr Vitaly Kushnir.
“If egg freezing being done due to impeding exposure to chemotherapy to treat cancer, which can destroy the ovarian reserve and future pregnancy potential, it may be the best available option. However, if a woman is considering freezing eggs to postpone fertility for social reasons she may have other, sometimes better, options available based on her age, health, and long term fertility plan.”
“Women who are considering electively freezing their own eggs for fertility preservation should be counseled that pregnancy chances with frozen eggs maybe be somewhat lower then with fresh.”
For the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., researchers analyzed data from 380 fertility clinics that reported their success and failures in 2013 to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, according to the LA Times. Researchers reportedly counted 11,148 IVF cycles involving donated eggs.
Out of those, 2,227 reportedly used eggs that had been frozen.
The live birth rate was reportedly 43.2% for women who used embryos derived from eggs that had once been frozen while the rate was 49.6% for women whose embryos were created from fresh eggs, according to the researchers.
Despite the results of the study, leading fertility expert Charles Kingsland, of Liverpool Women’s Hospital, stated that freezing eggs was still a good option for many women.
“Although not randomized or controlled, this study from America shows that although success rates using frozen eggs are still not as good as fresh eggs when used in IVF, they are rapidly improving,” stated Kingsland.
“There are potentially many advantages for using frozen eggs, mainly from the point of view of patient convenience and with this, the concept of widespread egg banking grows ever closer.”
