1) An initial assessment with one of our clinicians
2) Blood tests on day 2 of your cycle to determine eligibility and treatment protocol
3) Stimulation of the ovaries with medication to encourage the formation of healthy follicles which contain the eggs. This process requires monitoring every-other-day with blood tests and scans
4) Egg collection under deep sedation
5) The assessment and freezing of the eggs using vitrification in the laboratory

It is difficult to accurately assess the individual success rates for patients undergoing treatment with their own frozen eggs, as this is a relatively new technique and not enough frozen eggs have been used in treatment to date in order to give reliable data.

Historically, slow freezing techniques were used to freeze eggs which did not yield good survival rates upon thawing. The modern technique of vitrification, which involves rapid cooling of the eggs, has shown significantly better survival rates. This has resulted in an increase in the number of patients undergoing egg freezing in recent years.

Anyone wishing to preserve their eggs for future use due to concerns about their fertility declining with age

Anyone who is about to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy and wish to preserve their future fertility.

Anyone with a medical condition that may impact on their ovarian function.

The frozen eggs can be thawed and used for IVF treatment using ICSI to fertilise the eggs.

The treatment process will involve:
1) Thawing the eggs
2) Injecting them with the sperm (ICSI)
3) Culturing the resulting embryo(s) in the laboratory
4) Transferring selected embryo(s) into the uterus

The treatment may involve taking medications to prepare the uterine environment prior to the embryo transfer.

As with conventional IVF, there is a small risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation during the treatment. At the ARGC, however, we pride ourselves in carefully managing stimulation which substantially reduces this risk.

Subsequently, the eggs may not survive the thaw procedure. They may also not fertilise or successfully develop to embryos after fertilisation. Not all transferred embryos will implant or result in a successful pregnancy.