Deciding when to start a family is a big decision. You may be looking for the right partner or trying to achieve certain career goals. Or you may be managing a medical condition that can affect your future fertility. Fertility preservation can help you achieve your goal of becoming a parent on your timeline.
If you need help understanding and managing your reproductive options, our expert team is here for you. We provide advanced treatments and compassionate care to help guide you every step of your fertility journey.
What is Fertility Preservation?
Fertility preservation can help improve your chances of having a biological child later in life. It generally falls into two main categories:
- Helping you retain your reproductive options with cryopreservation. Cryopreservation is a treatment that freezes your eggs, sperm, or reproductive tissues for later use.
- Protecting your reproductive health during certain cancer treatments. This may include procedures such as protecting reproductive tissues from radiation during cancer treatments.
Our caring and skilled team is experienced in a wide range of fertility preservation procedures. This includes dedicated services for:
- Oncofertility for women, men, and children facing cancer diagnoses.
- Medically induced infertility for people with conditions such as autoimmune diseases, certain genetic disorders, known cancer mutations, and other diagnoses that may affect their future fertility.
- Individuals and couples who wish to delay childbearing for family planning or personal reasons.
- Males with physical disabilities that can make fertility treatments more challenging.
Treatments in fertility preservation continue to progress. Recent advances have resulted in improved survival of preserved eggs and better fertilization and pregnancy rates.
Common Methods of Fertility Preservation
Both men and women can use different fertility preservation methods to help retain their ability to have a biological child in the future. Common methods include the following:
- Egg freezing, also known as oocyte cryopreservation, allows you to preserve your fertility by freezing your eggs for future use.
- Sperm banking, also called sperm freezing or sperm cryopreservation, allows you to bank your sperm for future use.
- Embryo freezing, or embryo cryopreservation, allows you to preserve an egg that has been fertilized by a sperm (or an embryo) for later use.
- Ovarian tissue preservation preserves egg-producing ovarian tissue to help support future fertility.
All of these methods may use in vitro fertilization (IVF) to help begin a pregnancy. IVF combines egg and sperm fertilization outside the body, creating embryos for implantation in the uterus.
Another fertility procedure, intrauterine insemination (IUI), places sperm directly in a woman’s uterus with a catheter to help begin a pregnancy.
Who Should Consider Fertility Preservation?
You may be a candidate for fertility preservation if you have personal or medical reasons to delay starting a family. Some of the most common reasons may include:
- Cancer. Cancer treatments, such as radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery, may make it harder to have a child in the future and can sometimes cause permanent infertility.
- Other medical conditions. Along with cancer, fertility preservation may help with other medical conditions that can impact your reproductive health. These may include endometriosis, uterine fibroids, gender-affirming
- Family planning. You may choose to postpone childbearing for different reasons. For example, you may be prioritizing your career or waiting to find the right partner. Taking proactive measures may help protect your future fertility potential until you’re ready. Freezing your eggs at a younger age can significantly improve your chances of a successful pregnancy later in life.
- Age or history of early menopause. Fertility naturally declines with age. Early menopause can also make it harder to get pregnant. Freezing your eggs at a younger age can significantly improve your chances of a successful pregnancy later in life. Men may also freeze their sperm.
- Childhood medical treatments. Though still relatively new, young patients have options for fertility preservation. This may help if they are undergoing treatment for conditions such as cancer and blood disorders, which can affect future fertility. This type of care is called prepubertal fertility preservation.
Risks and Success Rates
Possible Risks
Different fertility preservation procedures can carry different risks. Some examples include:
- Some procedures to collect eggs and sperm may cause bleeding or infection.
- Laparoscopic (minimally invasive) fertility procedures may cause infection, bleeding, damage to nearby organs, or complications related to anesthesia.
- Complications for women can occur related to ovaries and estrogen levels.
- IVF may increase the risk of multiple births and other pregnancy complications.
If you’re considering fertility preservation, ask your doctor about the risks for your particular treatment.
Success Rates
Fertility preservation may help you protect your chances of having a baby, but it cannot guarantee a future pregnancy. Success rates for fertility preservation can vary widely based on factors such as:
- Age
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Health conditions
- Past pregnancies
- Prior fertility treatments
- The fertility treatment you’re considering
If you’re considering fertility preservation, talk with your doctor about the success rates for your specific procedure and what you can expect.
How Much Does Fertility Preservation Cost?
The cost of fertility preservation can vary widely. Most insurance companies do not cover the cost, but some may. Check with your insurance provider to understand your benefits.
The price you’ll pay depends on the specific services you’re having and what is included. For example, does the cost include medications or testing? In addition, egg or sperm freezing typically requires separate storage costs, and there is an additional cost for donor eggs, donor sperm, and surrogacy (if you need a gestational carrier to carry your child).
We want to help make care more affordable
We understand that costs can be challenging, and we’re here to help. Our team can talk with you in more detail and help you navigate the payment process.
We offer cost-effective treatments and make the process as affordable as possible with our competitive pricing and financing options. We understand how important this care is to you, and we’re here to support you throughout this process.
We’re Here for You
Making decisions about future family planning can be one of your most important health considerations. Whether you’re undergoing medical treatment or navigating personal goals, you want to have the best options possible when you’re ready to start your family.
Fertility preservation can help empower your decision-making and put you in greater control of your choices. Count on our caring and skilled fertility specialists to help you navigate your journey.
Schedule a consultation: Learn more about your fertility preservation options by scheduling a consultation with our specialists. Call us at 305-243-8642.
Why Choose UHealth?
Patient-centered fertility preservation care. The ideal approach to fertility preservation varies for each patient. Factors like age, diagnosis, family planning goals, and potential fertility challenges all play a role. We work closely with you to understand your specific risks and fertility preservation options. This ensures you receive the best possible care.
Focus on urgency and personalized care. Early action is key, particularly when treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy pose a risk to fertility. Our compassionate team works closely with you to explore fertility preservation options and prioritize your consultations in our schedule.
Wide range of innovative treatments. If you need specialized services such as genetic testing to aid you in your fertility planning, you can find them right here with us. We offer treatments for both women and men, including diagnosis of infertility, pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS), semen analysis, and microsurgeries that restore the normal function of the reproductive organs.
High pregnancy rates. We can support you through every stage of your family-planning journey – from fertility preservation to in vitro fertilization (IVF) when you’re ready to pursue parenthood. We have some of the highest pregnancy rates in not only South Florida, but in the entire United States. Our success stories include even the most challenging cases. When caring for each of our patients, we strive to always maintain the highest ethical standards and practices.
Academic medical center expertise. Faculty members at the Miller School of Medicine, a nationally recognized institution, currently conduct nearly 2,000 research projects in science and clinical care in a variety of fields. Our emphasis on research and innovation ensures you receive the most sophisticated diagnostic tests and advanced fertility treatments available. This combination of our physician-directed practice within a university-based health system emphasizes research and innovation in fertility medicine.
Active members of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART). Our experts strive to uphold the highest standards in our field of medicine. As members of SART, we follow the strictest guidelines and rules set forth by this industry-leading organization.
Affordable fertility care. We offer cost-effective treatments and make the process as affordable as possible with our competitive pricing, view our financing options. Our center prides itself on integrity and we are dedicated to providing a transparent process. Your treatment options are clearly outlined and presented to you at the time of consultation. We provide financial consultations and will show you how our plans differ from what other centers in our area offer. We are committed to making sure you know what to expect upfront. We offer financing through Lending Club Patient Solutions. In addition, we do not bundle price for our in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, which means if you get pregnant within one cycle, you will only be charged for that one cycle. If pregnancy does not occur in the first cycle, we provide discounts for second and third IVF cycles.
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