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Preserving Fertility

The effects of age on fertility and ways to protect your fertility

Age is the most important factor affecting fertility, but thanks to modern science, there are an increasing number of steps you can take to reduce its impact on fertility.

Fertility preservation is the process of collecting, freezing, and storing eggs, sperm, embryos, or even reproductive tissue with the hope of starting a family in the future.

There are many reasons to preserve fertility:

  • Being aware of age-related fertility decline

  • Not yet having met the right partner

  • Having a family history of premature ovarian failure (POF)/early menopause, even as a young woman

  • Needing medical treatments that could harm fertility (e.g., chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or certain surgeries)

  • Being a young, single woman with low ovarian reserve who is not yet planning pregnancy

Age is the biggest factor affecting fertility, and this is a fact of life.

As women age, both the quantity and quality of their eggs decline, which in turn reduces their chances of becoming pregnant and having a baby. This decline starts to accelerate in a woman’s mid-thirties and becomes even more rapid after the age of 40. While the degree of this decline may vary from woman to woman depending on genetics and lifestyle, it remains a reality for everyone.

This is why egg freezing is becoming increasingly common, especially among career-focused women. The goal of egg collection and freezing is to preserve eggs from a time when the ovaries are still producing high-quality eggs, thereby increasing the chances of fertility in the future by using these eggs.

Some women believe that the egg freezing process might reduce their chances of having a baby naturally in the future. However, contrary to this concern, egg collection and freezing do not deplete your ovarian reserve. In each menstrual cycle, only one follicle progresses through the full ovulation process to become a mature egg. Although multiple follicles begin to grow at the start of each cycle, all but one stop developing and disappear through a process called atresia. In egg retrieval, controlled ovarian stimulation with hormone medications is used to encourage the growth of those follicles that would otherwise be lost to atresia, allowing multiple mature eggs to be collected instead.

mdburcin@gmail.com

+90 532 6594323

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Happy Baby

Op. Dr. Burcin Demirel

All content on the website is for informational purposes only. Be sure to consult your doctor for diagnosis and treatment methods.

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