Similar to the idea of sperm freezing, human oocyte (egg) freezing can also be carried out. However, the human eggs are more susceptible to the freeze-thaw damage compared to the sperm which is a more robust organism. It was in February 1997 that the birth of a healthy baby-girl following egg freeze-thaw and ICSI was reported.
Those that can benefit from this procedure are:
Compared to embryos, oocytes do not yield good cryo-survival rate because of it being the biggest cell in human. A good cryo-survival rate depends on the surface to volume ratio of the organism, quality and type of cryoprotectant, cooling and warming rates, membrane permeability and the embryologist performing the procedure. Therefore, at Sunfert, we employ vitrification as the freezing mode which avoids formation of ice crystals in the oocyte. Ice crystals will often than not damage the oocyte, subsequently causing it to be non-viable.