When it comes to egg freezing in Los Angeles, RMA of Southern California’s Dr. Thomas Kim is an expert. Not only does he have over 20 years of experience on the subject, but he also took part in conducting some of the first-ever research on cryopreservation used in egg freezing.
In one of his research studies on egg freezing, Dr. Kim, who is the lead physician at RMA of Southern California, looked at the efficiency of vitrification when applied to young, fertile women. Vitrification is the latest, the most up-to-date technique for egg freezing.
With this method, the eggs are instantly flash-frozen in a matter of minutes. This flash-freeze greatly reduces the chances of egg injury from ice crystal formation, which can happen with older egg freezing techniques that take several hours.
In his study, Dr. Kim looked at pregnancy rates in women under age 35 who were known to be fertile, and who froze their eggs for six months.
Pregnancy rates in these women were high (over 70 percent), showing that vitrification was successful and that egg quality is an extremely important factor in the cryopreservation process – maybe the most important factor.
With this knowledge, doctors can assess a patient’s chances for a successful pregnancy after egg freezing based on her age.
Since we know that egg quality declines with age and Dr. Kim’s study showed that pregnancy rates are high in young, fertile women who freeze their eggs through vitrification, freezing your eggs while they are still young and healthy is the best path to a successful pregnancy down the line.
On the other hand, “cryopreserving compromised, lower-quality eggs is expected to produce lower pregnancy rates,” Dr. Kim said.
At RMA of Southern California, we recommend that those patients who are putting off childbearing look into fertility preservation options sooner rather than later.
A patient who freezes her eggs at age 35 will have a much higher chance at success than a patient who freezes her eggs at age 40.
Thanks to Dr. Kim’s research findings, vitrification is now the standard of care for egg freezing, and fertility specialists in Los Angeles and across the globe can properly screen candidates for egg freezing to ensure a favorable pregnancy outcome.
