Question: I am 35 years old and single, but am still hoping to find my life partner. I am getting a little concerned as my gynecologist has asked me about my plans for having children. She mentioned that I might want to consider freezing my eggs for future pregnancies. Is this something I should do?

Answer: Vitrification is a very new process for preserving unfertilized eggs. As noted in this month’s lead article, PFC has successfully been vitrifying oocytes from proven egg donors. Our first birth from this process occurred in October. Three additional pregnancies from this trial are ongoing. PFC undertook this vitrification trial in order to develop expertise with the technology of oocyte vitrification. For this reason, our study population was confined to donor eggs from healthy donors in their mid-twenties who had successfully completed conventional egg donation.

Why do we want to freeze eggs? For the many single young women diagnosed with cancer and facing fertility-threatening chemotherapy, egg vitrification will provide a fertility preservation option. This group of women has a compelling reason to consider undertaking the procedures and costs involved with in vitro fertilization. The potential threat to their ability to have their own biological children in the future may justify the unknowns that are involved with preserving their eggs in this manner. These unknowns include whether their eggs will survive the vitrification process and whether egg vitrification will ultimately prove to be as safe as conventional in vitro fertilization and embryo cryopreservation. The answers to these questions may not be answered until the patient’s eggs are warmed, fertilized and implanted, which may be years later.

We recognize that a much broader spectrum of the population will look upon oocyte vitrification as a way for women to preserve their fertility. Single women, such as you, who have not yet met their life partner, may be particularly interested in this option. In addition, it may also become an option for women in their 30’s who wish or need to delay their childbearing.

Many questions remain unanswered. Will eggs from women in their 30’s do as well as eggs from proven egg donors in their 20’s? Logic suggests older eggs will not do as well, but will the differences be significant? How many eggs would a woman need to preserve in order to have a reasonable chance for one or two children in the future? How many IVF cycles will that take? Is it safe to rely on these preserved eggs? Would having preserved eggs change a woman’s approach to reproductive planning in her life?

These are not trivial issues. They are important, life-changing concerns. For these reasons, we are not encouraging single women to prematurely jump on the egg vitrification bandwagon. Stay tuned. This area is changing rapidly. Carolyn Givens, MD