Decreased ovarian reserve in young women

NDO - Master, resident physician Trinh Thi Ngoc Yen - Center for Reproductive Support and Tissue Transplant Technology - Hanoi Medical University Hospital said that currently, the trend of infertility is gradually getting younger. There are many young cases, when going for examination, it is discovered that the ovarian reserve has been greatly reduced.

Which groups of people should perform egg freezing?

In Vietnam, egg freezing is increasingly receiving attention from the community. The Center for Assisted Reproduction and Transplant Technology - Hanoi Medical University Hospital has received and consulted many young couples, many unmarried women, ... who want to learn about egg donation service to get pregnant later.

In 2023, doctors at the Center for Assisted Reproduction and Transplant Technology - Hanoi Medical University Hospital performed more than 300 egg retrieval cycles for patients, including many young people. There were even cases born in 1998-2000 who had to freeze their eggs.

A female patient born in 1998 came to the hospital with reduced ovarian reserve. Doctors advised and prescribed that patient to freeze her eggs to preserve her ability to become a mother in the future.

Dr. Yen said that as women age, the quality of their ovaries will gradually decline. In particular, after the age of 35, the quantity and quality of eggs will decrease significantly. After this age, the chance of a woman getting pregnant with her own eggs is greatly reduced.

"The most ideal age and the highest chance of getting pregnant for women is around 20-29 years old. After that, it starts to decrease gradually, especially after the age of 35. From the age of 35, in addition to the decreasing pregnancy rate, the rate of miscarriage and stillbirth increases. Therefore, the chance of having a healthy child for women after the age of 35 is very low. Therefore, when becoming more independent, women today think a lot about freezing their eggs to preserve their future fertility," said Dr. Yen.

Master, resident physician Trinh Thi Ngoc Yen, Center for Assisted Reproduction and Tissue Transplantation Technology - Hanoi Medical University Hospital (blue shirt).

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha, Head of the Department of Tissue and Embryology, Hanoi Medical University, Director of the Center for Assisted Reproduction and Tissue Transplantation Technology, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, cases coming to store eggs fall into two groups: the group for medical reasons such as wanting to preserve fertility before cancer treatment, not having sperm for fertilization or needing to collect accumulated eggs and the group for social issues.

The number of patients coming for social reasons such as not wanting to get married, not intending to get married, young people proactively coming to freeze eggs, has increased in the past 3 years. In addition, cases before gender transition also come to freeze eggs.

"The trend of egg freezing is increasing. One is due to medical reasons, more and more cancer patients are more concerned about preserving the ability to have children after treatment. At the same time, patients with too few eggs are forced to collect enough to fertilize. Second, the age of marriage is increasing, modern women tend to get married late, while fertility does not last over time, it will decline after the age of 35," Associate Professor Ha said.

Considerations before performing egg freezing technique

Egg freezing opens up a lot of hope for infertile couples, along with ensuring the opportunity to have children for women who are focusing on their careers, those with reproductive diseases, endocrine diseases, serious illnesses, etc., or simply have not found a suitable partner.

Doctor Yen said that currently, the number of young people coming to the Center for Reproductive Support and Tissue Transplant Technology, Hanoi Medical University Hospital with the intention of freezing eggs is high, but not in all cases do doctors encourage freezing immediately.

Egg freezing has many benefits but also certain risks. Firstly, to freeze eggs, the person must have a stable economic foundation. Secondly, health must also be ensured.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha said that the cost of egg freezing is about 40-50 million VND, including the cost of examination, testing, egg retrieval, etc. To maintain the frozen preservation of eggs in frozen tubes, the annual cost is 1.7 million VND/tube.

Those who are not married and do not intend to get married should go for a check-up and get their reproductive health checked by a doctor. If the time to get married is too long and their ovarian reserve is not good, they should freeze their eggs to have a backup plan for their future.

If you need to test to assess ovarian reserve, there are many places that can do it, such as provincial hospitals, and even private centers can test to assess ovarian reserve. The most common test is the AMH index. Egg freezing can only be done at facilities with reproductive support centers.

Egg freezing is a special and difficult technique. Because eggs are the most special cells in a woman's body. Normally, cryopreservation techniques in assisted reproduction include: egg freezing, sperm freezing, embryo freezing and ovarian and testicular tissue preservation. Among them, egg freezing is almost the most difficult technique.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/suy-giam-du-tru-buong-trung-o-nguoi-tre-post844064.html