For majority of women in the country, the motivation behind donating their eggs is financial. Egg donation is not a benign process. You are supposed to go through 10-14 days of injections of hormones to make your ovaries grow and it’s also possible that your ovaries produce too many eggs. The excessive hormone medication in your system can lead to ovarian hyperstiulation syndrome (OHSS), in which your ovaries become sore. A few women may develop severe OHSS, which can cause rapid weight gain, vomitting, abdominla pain and shortness of breath.
Elective oocyte cryopreservation or social egg freezing is the term used to describe non-essential egg freezing for the purpose of preserving fertility for delayed child-bearing when natural conception becomes more problematic.
We asked Dr Neeta Singh, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS, New Delhi, about egg freezing and she strongly advocated that egg freezing just for advancing your studies or career is not advisable. She added that egg freezing is a cost intensive process and it does not guarantee a successful outcome.
Singh explained that egg freezing is highly advertised on social media and you shouldn’t be swayed by it as it has a limited role. Women undergoing cancer treatment, surgery, endometriosis or those with conditions that reduce ovarian function are ideal candidates for egg freezing.
Every woman is given a certain amount of eggs, if you’re donating your eggs, you might reduce your chances of getting pregnant and probably then you would require infertility treatment said Singh.