Oocyte cryopreservation
Human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a procedure to preserve a woman's eggs (oocytes). This technique has been used to enable women to postpone pregnancy to a later date – whether for medical reasons such as cancer treatment or for social reasons such as employment or studying. Several studies have proven that most infertility problems are due to germ cell deterioration related to aging. Surprisingly, the uterus remains completely functional in most elderly women. This implies that the factor which needs to be preserved is the woman's eggs. The eggs are extracted, frozen and stored. The intention of the procedure is that the woman may choose to have the eggs thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos to facilitate a pregnancy in the future. The procedure's success rate (the chances of a live birth using frozen eggs) varies depending on the age of the woman, and ranges from 14.8 percent (if the eggs were extracted when the woman was 40) to 31.5 percent (if the eggs were extracted when the woman was 25).
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