Getting your eggs frozen: Here's what women need to know

Do you want to focus on your career first or you simply don't want to have a baby just yet? No problem!

With the creation of egg freezing, women no longer have to feel pressured and feel as if they're in a race against their biological clock.

According to an Unang Hirit report on Friday, egg freezing or egg banking is a medical procedure where the egg cells of the woman is extracted and preserved to maintain its health.

It's starting to become a trend and even celebrities such as Ai Ai Delas Alas, Cristalle Belo and Divine Lee have all undergone the procedure already.

Infertility specialty Dr. Rudie Frederick Mendiola, MD said that there are two reasons in getting your eggs frozen: either because of medical freezing or the social freezing.

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"Kapag sinabing medical ibig sabihin talagang may dahilan na i-freeze ang eggs ng babae. Example niyan, may cancer ang babae, kapag nag-chemotherapy ang babae, pwedeng mapatay 'yung mga itlog sa obaryo so ang ginagawa, bago mag chemotherapy, ha-harvest muna tayo ng itlog, i-ffreeze natin," he said.

"Social egg freezing, ibig sabihin, walang medical indication kaya lang maraming gumagawa to preserve or prolong their fertility," he added.

This includes women who choose to focus on their careers or don't have partners just yet.

Mendiola explained that once a woman is 36 years old to 39 years old, the chance of getting pregnant decreases by 15% each passing year.

"So pag kunyari 39, 40, ikinasal ka, gusto mo magbuntis, you can try doing it naturally. Pero kapag nahirapan ka, pwede nating balikan yung eggs mo na naka-freeze," he said.

For the first step of egg freezing, the patient has to get injectibles and drink the prescribed medicine to enlarge her follicles.

Once it enlarges, the retrieval of the patient's egg cells will be scheduled already. Afterwards, the egg cells will be put in a tank for freezing and preservation.

In the Philippines, egg freezing per cycle costs from P130,000 to P150,000. Mendiola explained that the money will be spent on laboratory tests, ultrasound monitoring, blood tests and medicine.

"Dati kasi ang iniisip hindi available 'yung technology pero ilang taon na ang lumipas," Mendiola said. "Everything can be done here."

Mendiola warned that egg freezing is no guarantee of a baby in the future.

"Kailangan maintindihan ng pasyente na ang mga itlog na nakuha na yan, we cannot guarantee that they will become babies. Hindi natin malalaman kung ano sa mga itlog na 'yun ang pwedeng maging baby. Kaya we try to get as much as we can," he said. —Kaela Malig/JST, GMA News