Don't wanna have children just yet? Freeze your eggs with liquid nitrogen
What is more important to you, children or career? For many, motherhood has become such a luxury that they rather postpone it indefinitely. But one day it may be too late. That is why some women decide to have their eggs frozen. A method that has been commonly used abroad is finally being introduced in the Czech Republic: complete immersion of the eggs in liquid nitrogen.
Thanks to nightrogen, your eggs can be stored in the freezer much more safely and comfortably. The so-called open freezing method promises a higher degree of reliability in comparison with the previous methods and can eliminate the risk of damage after thawing.
The State Institute for Drug Control granted the first license to the Reprofit Reproduction Clinic.
Pregnant in two weeks
Three consultations precede the actual egg removal.
"At the first consultation, the doctor explains the whole process, the woman undergoes a basic examination including ultrasound and receives instructions regarding the application of hormones. This is followed by another two approximately 30-minute long check-ups, where the doctor always performs an ultrasound check,"
said the medical director of the clinic Pavel Otevřel. The egg removal itself takes place under general anesthesia. According to Otevřel, the procedure takes up one afternoon.
"After the procedure, the woman is monitored at the clinic for about 2 hours, then we release her,"
he explained, adding that the pain following the egg removal is minimal. On average, doctors take 5 to 12 eggs, which is optimal for one child. Once frozen, the eggs will last for decades.
"If a woman is thinking about freezing her eggs, she should ideally go through the process before the age of thirty-two, because the quality and number of eggs that can be removed declines with age,
Otevřel warned.
A child for fifty thousand
Insurance company rarely cover the procedure; exceptions are made only in the case when the woman is about to undergo oncological treatment. If you have cancer, the entire procedure including medication will cost you about 20,000 crowns in total. Otherwise, the amount usually goes up to 35 thousand crowns without the cost of medication. Overall, it's about fifty thousand.
In the Czech Republic, reproduction clinics are still using the closed freezing system, without liquid nitrogen. According to embryologist Martina Filová, they are concerned about the potential risk of contamination. However, according to a study that the clinic had to perform before receiving approval for the method, any risks are only at a theoretical level.
