Freeze my eggs?
Next steps
I’ve skimmed articles on this topic (not cool, I know) and I’ve heard the Kardashians discuss it a million times, but I’ve never really thought I’d ever have to consider it for myself. I honestly thought only rich people had the luxury of doing an expensive thing like this, even with insurance. When my mom brought it up during a recent phone conversation, I thought she was joking until she mentioned how long she’d been thinking about it. She’s concerned that I’m now single but getting older; she wants them grand babies y’all.
According to Modern Fertility, freezing, also known as mature oocyte cryopreservation, is a method used to save women's ability to get pregnant in the future. Your eggs are harvested from your ovaries, they are then frozen unfertilized, and stored for later use. Egg freezing does not require sperm because the eggs aren't fertilized before they're frozen. Synthetic fertilization hormones are required to help make the body ovulate to produce eggs for retrieval.
Modern Fertility states that it’s best for a woman to do this in her 20s and early 30s as women in that age bracket still have a steady number of eggs in their ovaries and the eggs are generally healthier. The sooner women choose to freeze their eggs, the greater the chances are of having our own children when we’re ready. Below are quick descriptions of the egg freezing process with a 2-3 week timeline:
Ovarian stimulation to facilitate the growth of multiple healthy, mature eggs over about ten days.
Egg retrieval is usually done under sedation. A needle is guided through the vagina and into a follicle, where a suction device is then used to remove the egg(s) from the follicle.
Freezing is the last step in preserving the eggs for future use.
If Adenomyosis was not a factor, I probably wouldn’t even be thinking about this until I actually tried to have a baby. The reality is, life plans don’t always pan out our way; I’m now seriously considering doing this to be safe. I’m in my 30’s and I’ve never been pregnant and while I give all the glory to God on that one, it does make me question if it’s just timing or is it my uterus? Motherhood would be the ultimate gift for me. I’m my mother’s only child and I grew up in a very big, proud Panamanian family. My cousins always make me feel more like their sister than cousin and I’ve always loved and appreciated that. Growing up I got to see healthy family dynamics, unconditional love, and support; I even got to see pain. My mother is superwoman to me; I don’t know where she gets her drive and determination from. She’s the reason I want to be a mom. I can’t wait to take everything that I’ve learned from my family and instill it into my own child(ren) someday. While I am considering this, I can’t help but think of the potential stress to my body and the emotional stress if it doesn’t work because it is not an insurance policy. I just want to get knocked up the old-fashioned natural way with my future husband.
Let’s see what happens because clearly, I’m not in control.
