The Vistahermosa Reproduction Unit is one of the few Spanish centers authorized to fertilize eggs previously frozen.
What is the right time to be a mother? medical, social and personal factors pose many women in this complicated dilemma.
The great scientific advances made in Reproductive Medicine allow women to delay the time to be mothers. Vitrification is a technique of preserving fertility achieving frozen oocytes at an early age when fertility potential is high, keeping them for their use in the future.
The Reproduction Hospital Clinic Vistahermosa is one of the few centers of the Spanish geography authorized by the Ministry of Health to fertilize eggs previously frozen, and is a pioneer in the application of this technique in the province of Alicante.
“This procedure also provides significant benefits to women with higher risk for impaired fertility for the loss of quality of their eggs, either by presenting autoimmune disorders, endometriosis, early menopause, surgery on the ovary, etc; or having to undergo treatments of radiation and chemotherapy during their reproductive ages, “explains Dr. José Jesús López Gálvez, Director of the Hospital center in Alicante.
“Keep in mind -comments the doctor- that from the age of 35 fertility decreases, and after 40, 75% of the eggs have any genetic alteration, increasing by 40% the probability of miscarriage. Similarly, semen quality has fallen by 40% over 10 years, both concentration and motility”. In this sense, the specialist warns that “when a is necessary to take a decision it is essential to know the alternatives existing now-a-days and that allow a woman of 42 years of age using her own eggs to become mother, with the guarantee that these are in perfect condition and they are fertile. ”
Vitrification is a process of quick freezing, with a high cooling rate, which prevents the formation of ice crystals avoiding damage or injury on the egg. “The vitrified oocytes are kept for as long as necessary and, when the time of pregnancy arrives, we proceed to the intracytoplasmatic sperm injection fertilization (ICSI). The embryos keep in culture according to the conventional techniques following the same procedure as the In Vitro Fertilization.
Parenting after overcoming cancer
Today it is possible to be parents after having overcome cancer. “However, in Spain there is still no full awareness; priority is given to the treatment of the disease leaving aside the fertility preservation. In these cases, one thing must go hand in hand with the other, “says Lopez Galvez.
The Oncofertility is a new discipline in Reproductive Medicine with professionals who study and develop prevention and protection impact of cancer and its treatments, for preserving fertility in children, youth and adults of both sexes.
“The first step in preserving fertility is to integrate the right of the patient to procreate within the main aim that the patient traces with her oncologist,” says the Director of the Reproduction Unit Vistahermosa.
