What You Need to Know About the Egg Freezing Process in Malaysia

Key Takeaways

• Egg freezing allows women to preserve their fertility and plan for pregnancy at a later stage.
• The process involves ovarian stimulation, egg collection, and freezing using advanced vitrification.
• No sperm is needed during egg freezing.
• Suitable for women delaying pregnancy due to personal, medical, or lifestyle reasons.
• Monash IVF KPJ Johor provides personalised support and advanced technology for egg freezing in Malaysia.

Understanding Social Egg Freezing and Oocyte Cryopreservation

Thinking about the future and preservation for your fertility is a big decision.

Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, enables women to preserve their eggs for future use, whether for career, personal, or medical reasons. Social Egg freezing is a fertility preservation option and involves freezing (unfertilised) eggs for non-medical reasons. (Fertility note: male sperm is not required in egg freezing). 

At Monash IVF KPJ Johor, we ensure you are informed and supported at every stage.

Why Women Choose Social Egg Freezing

The Numbers of Egg Reducing with Age

Women choose egg freezing to protect their fertility as they age. It’s a fact from Healthline that women are born with approximately 1-2 million eggs at birth, which deplete over time. 

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a woman’s best reproductive years are in her 20s. Fertility gradually declines in the 30s, especially after age 35.

• At age 30, the chance of getting pregnant per month is about 20%
• By age 40, the chance drops to less than 5% per cycle

This means fewer than 5 out of 100 women will conceive each month at age 40, underscoring why many consider egg freezing in their early 30s or sooner to preserve fertility potential.

Common Reasons for Considering Egg Freezing

There are various reasons why egg freezing is considered by women. Related common reasons to preserve female fertility may include:

• Work-life and career are priorities
• Relationship status and still looking for their life partner
• Medical Reasons like having to undergo treatment for cancer including chemotherapy and radiation
• IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization)
• Financial reasons
• Reducing the risk of genetic abnormalities in future offspring

Whether you are in Johor, elsewhere in Malaysia, or overseas, an initial consultation with our fertility team is an excellent first step to explore your egg freezing options.

Egg Freezing Process – Patient Journey

The egg freezing journey includes:

• Consultation with a fertility specialist 
• Tailored medication plan to stimulate your ovaries 
• Egg collection procedure
• Egg freezing and storage
• Future fertility

Egg Freezing Process involves 3 steps

We’ll start with a refresher about what happens to your eggs during your menses. Your eggs are found in your ovaries. They grow in fluid filled sacs (called Follicles) on the ovaries.

1st Step: Stimulation of your Ovaries and Why it’s important.

During a natural cycle, only one egg matures and is released. Ovary stimulation helps increase the number of eggs released in ovulation. This process involves:

• Daily hormone injections for 10–12 days to stimulate the ovaries
• A personalised medication plan guided by your fertility doctor
• Regular monitoring through blood tests and ultrasounds

You’ll administer the injections at home, with support from our fertility team throughout the process.

2nd Step: Egg Retrieval and Collection procedure.

Once your eggs are ready for collection, your fertility doctor will perform the procedure, which includes extracting the fluid from your ovary follicle. The eggs are carefully extracted vaginally with no incisions. You’ll be sedated with anaesthetic for the 15-minutes procedure.

In preparation beforehand, we advise patients to allow for 1-2 hours for the appointment and suggest that they are accompanied by their partner, family member or friend who can assist and drive them home after the procedure.

3rd Step: Oocyte Cryopreservation (Egg Freezing)

Once your eggs are collected, the fertility doctor passes the eggs to our fertility team and scientists. In the lab, the scientists select mature eggs to be frozen. Only mature eggs are frozen. The eggs are removed from the fluid and carefully frozen in the lab through a snap freeze process also known as vitrification method.

Starting Your Journey to Pregnancy Using Frozen Eggs

When you’re ready to try for a baby, your fertility specialist will help tailor your plan in using your frozen eggs and readying them for fertilisation, so they may develop into embryos for implantation.

Successful Pregnancy After Egg Freezing

There are many variables that can impact a successful pregnancy. Your chances of falling pregnant using your frozen eggs are predicated upon two main factors 

a) your age at the point of freezing your eggs and

b) how many eggs are frozen.

Having the headspace to think about your reproductive future takes an amount of courage and planning. With social egg freezing you can preserve your fertility. Speak to our specialists or schedule a nurse chat about your questions and concerns.

Citations and References:

Cherney K. How many eggs does a woman have? 2019. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/how-many-eggs-does-a-woman-have 

American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Age and fertility: A guide for patients. 2021. Available at: https://www.reproductivefacts.org/news-and-publications/patient-fact-sheets-and-booklets/documents/fact-sheets-and-info-booklets/age-and-fertility 

Broekmans FJ, Soules MR, Fauser BC. Ovarian aging: mechanisms and clinical consequences. 2009. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4467930/