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Egg Freezing: The Process

How it works

1) Prior to your consultation with Dr Rachael Rodgers

See your GP to obtain a referral to Dr Rachael Rodgers. Ask your GP for the following: – a blood test request form to have routine blood tests conducted

Full blood count (FBC) Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) Serology (hep B, hep C, HIV, syphilis) – a pelvic ultrasound request form that specifies an ‘antral follicle count’ is required. We recommend that you have this ultrasound conducted at a specialist women’s ultrasound practice such as Ultrasound Care or Sydney Ultrasound for Women, as these companies provide very detailed reports

2) Individual assessment (allow 1 hour)

Fertility assessment and consultation with Dr Rodgers. You will discuss your medical history and investigation results (blood tests and a pelvic ultrasound). We will discuss the process of egg freezing in detail and you will have a chance to ask any questions you have. We will decide together whether egg freezing is a viable option for you.

3) Appointment with IVF Australia nurses (allow 1 hour)

After your appointment with Dr Rachael Rodgers, if you decide to proceed with a cycle of egg freezing, a treatment plan will be sent to IVF Australia. The team at IVF Australia will contact you and arrange an appointment with their nurses.

The nurses at IVF Australia will discuss the details and logistics of the prescribed treatment with you. They will teach you how to administer your hormonal medications (yes, these are injections, but you use an injecting pen so they’ve simple to administer) and provide you with a personalised day-to-day plan for your cycle.

4) Monitoring allow (30-40mins per visit)

After you’ve met with the IVF Australia nurses, you will know exactly when to start your cycle. After a week of injections you’ll come in to an IVF Australia monitoring clinic (there are several different locations in Sydney or in NSW that you can attend for your monitoring) for an early morning blood collection and ultrasound to assess the growth of the follicles. Most people need to come for one or two more follicle monitoring appointments before enough follicles have grown to the required size. All of the blood test and ultrasound results automatically upload to Dr Rodgers’ computer system, so she will be talking to the IVF Australia nurses daily about your cycle. When your follicles have grown to the required size, the nurses will tell you to take your trigger medication (this medication triggers the eggs to mature).

5) Egg collection (you will need this day off work)

The egg collection is a procedure that takes about 20-30 minutes and is conducted under a light general anaesthetic. It takes place in the IVF Australia Day Surgery in Greenwich (about 10mins drive north from the Sydney CBD) A transvaginal ultrasound used to visualise the ovarian follicles so that a needle can be inserted through the wall of the vagina to collect the eggs (don’t worry, you’re asleep so this won’t hurt). One of the IVF Australia scientists will be in the operating theatre at the time of the egg collection and as soon as the procedure is completed, they will take your eggs to the lab located in the room next to the operating theatre so your eggs can be frozen immediately. You will be able to go home around an hour after your procedure has been completed.

6) Follow up

Most patients make a follow up appointment with Dr Rodgers after their egg freezing cycle to discuss whether enough eggs have been collected to give them a good chance of a future pregnancy, or whether additional cycles would be recommended.

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