Elect to expand your family-building possibilities
Fertility preservation at our Austin IVF center brings renewed hope for having a family, and is possible because of recent advances in reproductive medicine. Due to significant improvements in success rates, more and more people are becoming aware of their fertility preservation options. As a result, both fertility specialists and cancer specialists now proactively offer information about this medical breakthrough.
What is fertility preservation?
Fertility preservation is the process of collecting and freezing genetic material (sperm, eggs, and embryos), and storing them indefinitely until they are needed. For decades, fertility preservation included the ability to effectively freeze sperm and embryos. A new method of fast-freezing, called vitrification, now enables our Austin IVF center to successfully preserve a woman’s eggs as well.
A diagnosis of cancer or other serious chronic medical disease, or plans to delay a family may lead you to consider your fertility preservation options. At our Austin IVF center, we can cryopreserve:
• Oocytes (Eggs)
• Sperm
• Embryos
Men and women in Round Rock and surrounding areas who consider fertility preservation with our Austin IVF center typically do so in one of three circumstances:
1) They plan to delay starting a family,
2) They have diminished ovarian reserve and want to store their eggs now, before they are all gone, or
3) They have recently been diagnosed with cancer or other chronic medical disease.
Fertility preservation prior to cancer or disease treatment
Our Austin IVF center prepares men and women for fertility after cancer. You likely know that therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can affect your future reproductive health.
For example, chemotherapy, radiation or cancer surgery in the pelvic region can destroy oocytes (eggs), sperm, or reproductive tissues. An accelerated fertility treatment cycle of IVF can provide peace of mind, knowing that your future fertility is not in danger.
Elective fertility preservation
When career demands or life circumstances cause you to delay starting a family, fertility preservation may provide a safety net. A woman’s ability to conceive a child is hindered by the age of her eggs. Fertility preservation empowers women with the freedom to wait to get pregnant, without the fear of the infertility issues that are associated with advanced maternal age.
Fertility preservation for women involves a modified cycle of IVF, using fertility medications to grow multiple eggs. Our Austin IVF center retrieves the eggs, and immediately freezes them. Another option is to freeze embryos – by combining egg and sperm in the laboratory, and then cryopreserving the eggs that fertilize and divide.
Although elective fertility preservation takes approximately six weeks to complete, fertility preservation for patients newly diagnosed with cancer can take as little as 10-12 days.
The compassionate staff at our Austin IVF center can explain your fertility preservation options that improve your chances for conceiving when it’s time. If you live anywhere in Central or South Texas and think you may have trouble conceiving in the future, contact us.