Fertility Preservation

Fertility protection  , are methods used to protect the reproductive potential of women and men. An increasing number of cancer patients have begun to be seen in the reproductive age. Chemotherapy or stem cell treatments have now begun to be used more frequently for many genetic, hematological and immunological diseases other than cancer. While breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women during the reproductive age, leukemia and lymphomas are more common at earlier ages. Toxic treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, genetic factors and decreased egg reserve due to past diseases may constitute an obstacle to having children. With egg freezing and storage, mature eggs are taken from the woman, frozen and stored in a laboratory environment with special techniques. Embryos can be frozen and stored in married women. In this way, fertility is protected.

In men with very low sperm counts or patients who will undergo treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, sperm freezing can preserve reproductive capacity. Sperm freezing is the freezing and storage of a sperm sample or testicular tissue sample using advanced freezing techniques. In this way, male patients’ reproductive capacity is preserved and patients are given the chance to have children in the future.

You can contact our clinic and make an appointment for   fertility preservation methods and all other gynecological diseases and obstetrics practices.

What is Egg Freezing?

Egg freezing is one of the methods used to preserve fertility in women. In egg freezing, a higher number of eggs than normal are produced with medication. These eggs that develop in the ovaries and reach the necessary maturity are called oocytes. Oocytes that reach the necessary maturity are collected, frozen and stored with special freezing techniques.

How to Freeze Eggs?

Egg freezing is an average 15-day process that starts on the 2nd or 3rd day of menstruation. Thanks to a method we have developed and described as the first in the world, the procedure can be started immediately in patients who are not menstruating and who are planned for urgent treatment. For egg freezing, the patient is first given hormone-containing drugs. In this way, a higher number of eggs are produced than in a normal ovulation cycle. The doses of the drugs to be given are determined according to the patient’s age, weight and hormone levels, and egg development is monitored ultrasonographically and at regular intervals with hormone results.

Inside the ovaries, there are follicles that contain egg cells. When the follicles grow and mature to the expected level, the patient is given a trigger shot. 35-36 hours after the trigger shot, the egg collection process is performed.

Egg collection is performed painlessly while the patient is under general anesthesia. The specialist doctor visualizes the follicles with an ultrasound probe inserted into the vagina. At the same time, a needle with a vacuum device on its tip is inserted into the vagina. With this needle, the follicles are collected and removed.

With a new method that we have defined and introduced to the world, eggs can be collected from the abdomen of unmarried, single women, without damaging the hymen, with the same effectiveness and safety compared to the standard method.

The collected eggs are frozen using the virtification method, also known as rapid freezing or vitrification. The frozen eggs are preserved by being stored in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196 degrees. When the patient wants to have children, these frozen eggs are thawed and made usable.

What is Sperm Freezing?

The freezing of a sperm sample taken from a man in a laboratory environment is called sperm freezing. Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy damage sperm cells. Before such treatments, sperm freezing can be used to preserve the chance of having children in the future. At the same time, some patients may have a very low sperm count and obtaining sperm may become more difficult with advancing age. In this case, sperm freezing can be used to preserve reproductive potential in the future.

How to Freeze Sperm?

The sperm freezing process consists of two steps: sperm collection and analysis of the collected sperm. The sperm collection step involves taking a sperm sample from the man. Two different methods can be used to take a sperm sample. In the first method, the patient is taken to the sperm collection room and gives a sperm sample by masturbation. In cases where the patient cannot give a sperm sample by masturbation, the second method, surgical procedure, is used. In patients with very low sperm counts, the surgical method is preferred for sperm collection.

Surgical sperm collection is performed while the patient is under local or general anesthesia. Sperms are collected using the methods of “Testicular Sperm Aspiration (TESA)” , “ Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE)” and “PESA” , which is the process of obtaining sperm from the epididymis with a needle .

The collected sperm are analyzed before the freezing process begins. In this analysis, where sperm count, sperm motility and structure are evaluated, the healthiest sperm are selected and frozen.

  Fertility Preservation Prices

In patients at risk of losing fertility, treatments to preserve reproductive potential are planned on a patient-specific basis. For this reason, prices for fertility preservation treatments may vary. You can contact our clinic to get detailed information about   fertility preservation treatment prices.