Egg freezing: What's the process like?

With the help of today's technology, there's no longer any need for women to "race" against their biological clocks and feel pressured to start a family.

An episode of "Dapat Alam Mo!" explained that egg freezing is the medical procedure of extracting a woman's egg cells and preserving it, giving women the freedom and the option to start a family at a later time, at their own pace. 

"Women are born with definite number of eggs tapos pabawas ng pabawas 'yan [as they age]," said gynecologist and Reproductive Medicine Specialist Dr. Ana Belen Ignacio-Alanzuela.

"Five months palang tayo sa tiyan, sa sinapupunan ng nanay natin, we had seven million egg cells. Noong pinanganak tayo, bigla two million eggs na lang so 'yung five million namatay lahat 'yun. Tapos from two million, nag-start ka na mag-regla, we will only have 400,000 eggs and from the 400,000 eggs we will only ovulate 400 eggs."

[Women are born with a definite number of eggs and it decreases over time. At five months inside our mother's womb, women will have had seven million egg cells. Upon birth, it will become two million eggs — so the five million all died. From two million, when you start to have your period, we will only have 400,000 eggs and from 400,000 eggs we will only ovulate 400 eggs.]

She added, "Ang option, hindi ka magmamadali kasi hindi minamadali ang pag-aasawa dahil lang gusto mo magkaanak. May option ka ipa-freeze mo muna itlog mo."

[The option allows you to not rush it. Getting married shouldn't be rushed just because you want to have a child. You have the option to freeze your eggs first.]

In a 2019 Unang Hirit report, Infertility specialist Dr. Rudie Frederick Mendiola, MD explained the process of egg freezing begins with the patient getting injectibles (hormones) and drinking the prescribed medicine to enlarge her follicles.

Once it enlarges, the patient will be scheduled for the retrieval or harvest of her egg cells. 

According to Ignacio-Alanzuela, the process of harvesting a woman's egg cells occurs during their ovulation period.

She said, "Ang pag-harvest is itatapat sa period ng ovulation mo, tas sisipsipin namin 'yung mga itlog sa obaryo mo. Guided kami ng ultrasound and of course naka anesthesia ka and tapos itatago na natin sa test tube and ifi-freeze na natin 'yun."

[We harvest eggs during your ovulation period. We'd extract your eggs from your ovary. We'll be guided by ultrasound and of course you'll be under anesthesia. We'll then keep it in a test tube and freeze it.]

To create a child, it's also important that the partner or the donor's cells should be healthy to fertilize the egg.

The cost of egg freezing depends on the age of the woman and can reach up to P300,000. — Kaela Malig/LA, GMA News