Hopefully, you already have a self-care routine that includes things like eating well, getting enough exercise, spending time in nature, participating in your favorite hobbies, regular nights out with friends, occasional spa days, or simply setting aside time to read a book and relax.
If you’re thinking about having a family in the future but haven’t thought about egg freezing as self-care, you should consider adding it to your checklist.
Egg Freezing as Self-Care
Self-care is defined as anything you do to protect and promote your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It’s an investment in yourself that helps you feel better, become more resilient, and better cope with life stressors.
How does egg freezing fit into self-care? It’s an investment in your future that potentially impacts every area of your life. You’re born with all the eggs you will ever have, and you lose approximately 1,000 eggs each month. The health of your eggs also declines with age, and after 35, you’re more likely to have trouble getting pregnant and more likely to have genetically abnormal eggs.
As a result, many people worry about being able to have children in the narrow window of time our biological clocks allow, especially if they’re hoping to pursue educational or career goals or haven’t yet met the right partner. Egg freezing changes the narrative and puts power over your reproductive future back in your hands.
Physical Benefits of Egg Freezing
Just like the rest of your body, your eggs are subject to the effects of age. Older eggs are also more likely to have genetic abnormalities that may prevent embryos from being viable, or may cause genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome.
Egg freezing preserves your eggs at the age they’re harvested. If you freeze your eggs when you’re 27 and use them to become pregnant at age 38, your eggs are still 27 and more likely to be genetically healthy.
Egg freezing also provides you with a reserve of eggs in case the unexpected happens. We don’t like to think about it, but illnesses or accidents could happen at any time that affect our reproductive potential. Cancer, for example, may require treatment that damages your eggs or necessitate the removal of your reproductive organs.
Benefits of Egg Freezing on Mental and Emotional Health
Pursuing educational or career goals often means delaying having children until later in life, when infertility concerns increase. This means many women feel they have to choose between pursuing goals or having children.
Whether your goal is to earn a Ph.D., complete medical residency, travel the world, become a corporate CEO, or simply gain the financial stability to support a family, egg freezing helps those dreams come true. The knowledge that you no longer need to worry about your egg supply is often an incredible relief!
Egg Freezing and Your Relationships
Egg freezing as self-care helps you pursue happy, healthy relationships without worrying about when, or even if, you’ll find the right partner. If you don’t meet the perfect partner until your 30s or 40s, that’s okay. It’s also okay if you opt to be a single parent.
Egg freezing is also beneficial if you plan to transition genders and wish to have biological children in the future, or if you’re part of an LGBTQ+ relationship. Freezing your eggs gives you the option of pursuing reciprocal IVF in the future, or working with a gestational carrier to have a biological child.
Simply put, egg freezing gives you options, knowing your eggs will be there when you’re ready to grow your family your way.
Egg Freezing with Dr. Sanaz Ghazal at RISE Fertility
Dr. Ghazal and the rest of the RISE Fertility team are committed to providing top-of-the-line fertility care in a concierge setting. Our individualized approach to fertility care helps our patients feel at ease, and you’ll appreciate unparalleled access to your treatment team.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Ghazal in Newport Beach, CA to see whether egg freezing is right for you, or to begin the egg freezing process.
A concierge fertility practice, RISE Fertility has created the time and space
for elevated engagement between you and your physician. The high
touch nature of our practice feels both exclusive and familiar.
