Egg freezing is a fantastic way to preserve your fertility in the event that you aren’t ready for kids yet, but wish to have some in the future. If it has been a few years and you’re ready to use them, this article will explain the next steps.

Follow Egg Freezing With North Houston IVF

Once you decide you’re ready to attempt getting pregnant, we will proceed with North Houston IVF at one of our IVF labs in Kingwood or The Woodlands. IVF is a process in which we fertilize an egg outside of the body. Once the egg has been fertilized, we will let it grow until the day-5 blastocyst embryo stage and then conduct PGT–Preimplantation Genetic Testing.

Preimplantation Genetic Testing To Improve Chances Of Pregnancy

Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) is a way to determine if your embryo has a high chance of leading to a successful birth. We conduct genetic testing by performing a simple biopsy on the embryo, which gives us insight on embryo quality by showing any genetic abnormalities that may affect your chances of achieving a successful birth. If the embryo is genetically healthy, our Houston fertility doctors will transfer it to your uterus.

North Houston Frozen Embryo Transfer

Once the embryo has undergone PGT, Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) is the next step. At this time, we will prepare your uterus for pregnancy so it can accept the embryo. Our Kingwood and The Woodlands IVF specialists achieve this by administering hormonal medication so that your body undergoes the same hormonal changes it would with a conventional pregnancy. After a period of taking hormonal medication, the uterus is ready. We will then thaw the frozen embryo and inject it into the uterus with the help of an abdominal ultrasound. You won’t feel any pain when this occurs.

IVF Specialists In The Woodlands And Kingwood Can Help You Achieve A Successful Pregnancy

If you have frozen your eggs and are ready to get pregnant, or would like to learn more about egg freezing, then please request an appointment with our IVF specialists. We want to provide the support you need to achieve your dreams of motherhood.

Infertility is not a new issue, but it is only recently being spoken about more often and more openly. Because of this, there may be various views on fertility due to the many myths that surround the topic. In this post, we will debunk 3 myths relating to male and female infertility.

Myth 1: Infertility Only Affects Women

Based on the title of this article, this is clearly untrue. Many wrongfully blame women for being infertile, but the truth is that 30-50% of couples suffer from male infertility. Neither partner should be blamed for infertility because it is a genuine medical condition; just know that it could affect women and men just the same.

Myth 2: You Are Infertile Because You’re Stressed

Although chronic stress may play a role in a couple’s battle with infertility, especially if it is related to chronic stress, infertility is not explicitly psychological. Reducing your stress may help in conjunction with fertility treatments such as North Houston IVF or IUI, but reducing stress alone is not enough to get pregnant. Because it is a medical condition, patients must undergo procedures and medically administered treatments.

Myth 3: You’re Safe From Infertility If You’ve Already Had Children

Even if you and your partner have already had one or more children, you may still experience what is known as secondary infertility, which occurs when one pregnancy was successful while the next one was not. Factors such as age or other health concerns may contribute to secondary infertility, but it happens seemingly randomly. At our fertility clinic in The Woodlands and Kingwood, we have had patients who easily had their first child, required North Houston IVF for their second pregnancy, and then had a third unplanned pregnancy.

Our Noth Houston Fertility Clinic In Kingwood And The Woodlands Can Help You Get Pregnant

Because infertility can be unpredictable, we recommend getting fertility testing if you have tried to get pregnant for over a year with no results. This helps our fertility specialists determine what treatment may be best for your particular case. If you are having a hard time getting pregnant, know that it's not your fault and you still have options. Please request an appointment with our fertility doctors so we can determine what fertility treatments may result in a healthy pregnancy.

Egg freezing, otherwise known as Mature Oocyte Cryopreservation, is one of the more advanced modern fertility treatments we offer at our clinic. It was still experimental until early 2013, but since then it has become a very common procedure we perform in addition to North Houston IVF at HART Fertility Clinic in The Woodlands and Kingwood.

How Does Egg Freezing Work

Egg freezing has 3 main steps:

• Taking fertility medication that stimulates egg production
• Egg Retrieval
• Egg freezing and storage

Egg Production

Everyone’s body is different, so our North Houston fertility clinic’s specialists will design a specific medication program that is suitable for your body, which will enable us to obtain the most eggs possible. More eggs to freeze means more chances of successful fertilization. The medication is the same type that we use for patients planning to undergo North Houston IVF treatment.

Egg Retrieval

When it’s time to retrieve your eggs, we will sedate you prior so you don’t feel any pain or discomfort. The process takes less than 30 minutes and you can go about most of your daily routine afterward. You may experience minor cramping after the procedure, but this should resolve by the next day.

Kingwood Fertility Clinic Egg Freezing And Storing

Once your eggs are retrieved, it’s time to freeze them immediately. Once frozen, we have to store them carefully because when egg freezing was still in its experimental phase, the eggs would typically ice over and destroy the cell. At our North Houston fertility clinic in Kingwood and The Woodlands, we dehydrate the egg and use our rapid freezing technique. This protects the egg and keeps it safe for years until you're ready to get pregnant.

Who Is A Good Candidate For Egg Freezing At Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic?

Whether you come to our fertility clinic in Kingwood or in The Woodlands, a good candidate for egg freezing is someone who is between their 20’s and their 30’s, but those of who are in their 30’s may benefit the most. However, this is merely based on the possibility that someone who freezes their eggs in their 20’s may not end up needing to use them.

Fertility Specialists In Kingwood And The Woodlands 

If you are considering freezing your eggs as a way to preserve your fertility and plan for a future pregnancy, then please request an appointment so that our caring specialists can address any questions or concerns you may have.

When it comes to difficulties carrying a baby, a surrogate is often considered to be the best option. However, there are two types of surrogates: the traditional surrogate or IVF with a gestational surrogate. Here is how they compare to one another and why we prefer to offer IVF with a gestational surrogate.

Traditional Surrogate For Infertility

With traditional surrogacy, the surrogate’s eggs are used, which means the surrogate is legally the biological mother of the baby it carries. This can, unfortunately, create blurred lines and a gray area between the surrogate and the intended parents, which is why this option for fertility treatment has decreased in popularity.

North Houston IVF With A Gestational Carrier

Utilizing a surrogate as a gestational carrier, on the other hand, means the intended mother’s eggs are used. Alternatively, if the intended mother’s eggs aren’t successfully fertilized, an egg donor may also be used. In both cases, the surrogate has no biological ties to the baby it carries and this is reflected in the baby's birth certificate.

How IVF With A Gestational Carrier Works At Our Kingwood And The Woodlands Fertility Clinics

For women who don't have a functioning uterus, are dealing with medical issues that make sustaining a pregnancy difficult, could be in serious danger if they become pregnant, or for women with no uterus, Kingwood and The Woodlands IVF with a gestational carrier may be a viable solution. 

Our North Houston fertility specialists will perform the IVF procedure in order to retrieve the intended mother's or donor’s eggs. The eggs will then be fertilized with the intended father's sperm. 

Following this, we will wait until the embryo has reached the blastocyst (day 5 embryo) stage. The blastocyst will then undergo pre-implantation genetic testing, which allows us to determine which embryos are genetically normal and have the highest chances of resulting in a successful birth. A single embryo will then be selected to be transferred into the gestational carrier’s uterus.

Our North Houston IVF Specialists Will Assist You In Finding A Good Gestational Carrier To Help You Achieve Your Dreams Of Parenthood 

Having a baby is a blessing and we are proud to support couples through their IVF Journey. Our North Houston IVF lab boasts rates of genetically normal embryos that have exceeded the national average for all U.S IVF labs that utilize the same PGT laboratory, thanks to our exceptional IVF lab conditions. If you're considering IVF with a surrogate, please request an appointment so we can begin the process.