Egg Freezing Program at Penn Fertility Care — Lancaster General Health

We understand egg freezing is big decision, and we want to make it as comfortable and easy as possible. Our dedicated egg freezing team helps to ensure you receive the best possible care, counseling and support throughout the process. 

What is the egg freezing process?

Cryopreservation is a precise method used to preserve embryos, eggs, ovarian tissue, and sperm by cooling and storing them at a very low temperature and then thawing them at a future date for use.

You may choose cryopreservation to postpone having children—for personal, professional or medical reasons. When you are ready to become pregnant, your eggs can be thawed and fertilized, and the embryo can be transferred to your uterus.

The egg retrieval procedure for oocyte cryopreservation is the same as that for in vitro fertilization. Your ovaries are stimulated through hormone injections to produce multiple egg-containing follicles. Progression of follicular development is followed by evaluating hormone levels and performing ultrasounds at the appropriate times. A transvaginal ultrasound guides the retrieval of the eggs and the eggs are immediately frozen.

We use state-of-the-art vitrification (slow freezing) technology to freeze eggs. This ensures your eggs are frozen rapidly, before ice crystals that can damage them during thawing can form.

Egg freezing, also called cryopreservation, is no longer considered experimental by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. To date, there are more than 1,000 births worldwide as a result of egg freezing, and there doesn't appear to be an increased risk of pregnancy complications or birth defects in women who conceive using frozen eggs.