You’ve been diagnosed with cancer. For many younger women the first thought is, “can I still get pregnant?”
You’ll probably be referred to a fertility specialist, and freezing your eggs for later use is often an option.
Read More In order to get this done quickly, a so-called “fast start fertility preservation technique” is used, says Dr. Jaime Knopman, Director of Fertility Preservation at CCRM NY. This means that no matter where you are in your cycle, the production of eggs is stimulated and can be done in as little as two weeks.
To achieve this, a patient is given hormone injections in the morning and night. It’s a ten-day process, during which regular blood tests and ultra sounds are performed. When estrogen levels are at peak, a final injection is given and 35 hours later the eggs are removed. If you are freezing the eggs alone, then they are assessed for maturity and frozen. For freezing embryos, the eggs are fertilized with sperm and then grown in the laboratory.
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