Fertility Preservation
in Tijuana, Mexico
Our center offers personalized fertility preservation services to safeguard your ability to conceive in the future. Whether facing medical treatments, surgery, or age-related fertility decline, we provide tailored options such as egg freezing and embryo cryopreservation. With expert care and advanced technology, Fertilite Center empowers you to secure your reproductive health and plan for a family on your own timeline.
What is Fertility Preservation?
Our Fertility Preservation service is a deeply personalized option designed to safeguard your future fertility. Whether you're facing medical treatments like cancer therapy, undergoing surgery, or concerned about age-related fertility decline, we help protect your ability to conceive when the time is right for you.
Our dedicated team works with you to explore the best fertility preservation options tailored to your unique situation, ensuring that your individual needs are met with care and compassion. With our support, you can confidently take steps to preserve your reproducibility, giving you the peace of mind to focus on the present while securing your future family-building options.
Fertilite Center deeply understands the value of preparing for the future and the desire to keep your options open through fertility preservation. This revolutionary approach provides the freedom and flexibility to plan for a family on your timeline, giving you greater control over your reproductive choices.
Egg freezing (Vitrification)
Also known as oocyte cryopreservation, this is the most common fertility preservation method, representing cutting-edge technology that empowers women to proactively safeguard their fertility. The process involves rapid freezing, which minimizes the formation of ice crystals that could harm the eggs.
How egg freezing works?
- Preparation – The egg-freezing process typically begins with an initial consultation, ultrasound, and blood tests to help your doctor determine the most suitable approach. Hormonal medications are then prescribed for 10–14 days to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs, rather than the single egg released during a normal menstrual cycle. Throughout this period, you will be closely monitored to ensure your hormone levels are optimal for the procedure. Egg retrieval is generally scheduled 12–16 days after starting the medications and is performed under general anesthesia.
- Egg Retrieval: This straightforward procedure, performed by our skilled doctors, involves using a thin, ultrasound-guided catheter to retrieve eggs from the ovaries. The process is conducted under general anesthesia, ensuring you are sedated throughout, and typically takes about 15 minutes. After the procedure, you may experience cramping, bloating, abdominal distension, and constipation, which usually subside within 5–7 days. Most women require 1–2 days to recover fully following the egg retrieval.
- Egg Freezing: Once your eggs reach our lab, our expert embryologists carefully select mature eggs for freezing using vitrification, a rapid freezing technique. You will always have access to detailed information about your frozen eggs.
- Using your Frozen Eggs: When you’re ready to conceive, your eggs will be thawed, fertilized in the lab with partner or donor sperm, and then transferred to your uterus or the uterus of a gestational surrogate. Preparation for implantation typically involves hormone treatments and ultrasound monitoring. The embryo transfer procedure is similar to a Pap smear and does not require anesthesia.
How Embryo Freezing Works?
- Consultation: Determine if embryo freezing is right for you
- Ovulation induction: Take hormonal injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs
- Egg and sperm retrieval: A doctor uses an ultrasound to extract eggs from the ovaries.
- Fertilization: A doctor exposes the eggs to sperm in a laboratory, or uses intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to inject a single sperm directly into an egg
- Embryo cryopreservation: Embryos are prepared for freezing by replacing the water content of their cells with cryoprotectants to prevent cell death during freezing. The embryos are then cooled and frozen.
Embryo freezing
Embryo cryopreservation is a procedure in which eggs are fertilized to make embryos. Embryos are frozen and stored for future use. This process is a standard part of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and offers individuals or couples the opportunity to preserve embryos for later pregnancy attempts.
How Embryo Freezing Works?
- Consultation: Determine if embryo freezing is right for you
- Ovulation induction: Take hormonal injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs
- Egg and sperm retrieval: A doctor uses an ultrasound to extract eggs from the ovaries.
- Fertilization: A doctor exposes the eggs to sperm in a laboratory, or uses intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to inject a single sperm directly into an egg
- Embryo cryopreservation: Embryos are prepared for freezing by replacing the water content of their cells with cryoprotectants to prevent cell death during freezing. The embryos are then cooled and frozen.
Embryos can be stored for up to 55 years, but consent must be renewed every 10 years
Sperm banking
Also known as sperm cryopreservation, is the process of collecting, freezing, and storing sperm for future use. This procedure is widely used to preserve male fertility in cases where sperm production or quality might be at risk or when future reproductive plans are uncertain.
How Sperm Banking Works?
- Screening: A medical professional will perform blood tests to screen for infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and syphilis.
- Sample collection: A semen sample is collected by masturbation and brought to a laboratory within an hour. The sample can be collected in one visit or multiple visits.
- Analysis: The sample is analyzed for quality and quantity.
- Freezing: The sample is divided into multiple vials and treated with a chemical to protect the sperm during freezing. The vials are then placed in a freezer set to -20°F (-29°C) and then transferred to liquid nitrogen vapor at -86°F (-66°C) for about two hours. Finally, the vials are stored in a deep-freeze tank of liquid nitrogen at -321°F (-196°C).
- Storage: The sperm can be stored indefinitely if it’s stored correctly.
- Thawing: When the sperm is ready for use, it is thawed in a laboratory until it reaches room temperature.
FAQ’s About Fertility Preservation Service
To get started with fertility preservation, you can make an appointment with our fertility specialist. They can help you understand your options and create a plan that's right for you.
There is no set age limit for egg freezing, as individual circumstances vary. Our doctors assess each patient’s unique situation, including their age and egg count, to provide personalized success rate information and guidance. This ensures you can make a well-informed decision that best suits your needs.
Ovarian tissue freezing is a fertility preservation technique in which a portion of ovarian tissue, containing immature eggs (oocytes), is surgically removed, frozen, and stored for future use. This method is particularly beneficial for individuals who cannot delay medical treatments that may affect fertility or for those who cannot undergo other fertility preservation options like egg or embryo freezing.
People who may benefit from fertility preservation include those who are at risk of losing their fertility due to disease, surgery, or other life events. This includes people who:
- Are about to undergo cancer treatment
- Have a genetic condition that affects fertility
- Have an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis
- Have endometriosis or uterine fibroids
- Have considered delaying having children.
- Have been exposed to toxic chemicals
-Are undergoing gender-affirming treatment
- Have a condition that may be treated with surgery or medication that could affect fertility
After determining your egg count, we will provide you with success rate information for egg freezing, considering factors such as your age. Some women may opt for multiple rounds to collect enough eggs, thereby enhancing their chances of success. We support each patient in making the choices that are right for them and ensure transparency throughout the process, so you can move forward confidently regarding your future fertility.
There are no known long-term side effects associated with the process, including no increased risk of ovarian or breast cancer, infertility, or early menopause. However, some patients may experience temporary side effects from the hormones used, such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, bloating, nausea, and constipation. These symptoms typically resolve once the process is complete.
During the two weeks you are on hormones, you will typically have 4-5 appointments. No further visits are required after your eggs have been retrieved.
The effectiveness of fertility preservation depends on several factors, including the method used, the individual’s age, overall health, and the underlying reason for preservation.
We advise avoiding alcohol, smoking, and drugs while preparing for and completing the cycle. Additionally, refrain from using high-dose NSAIDs, such as Advil, during the cycle. Toward the end of the cycle, we recommend avoiding strenuous exercise and intercourse for about a week until you have fully recovered from the procedure.
Please notify Fertilite Center if you choose not to use your eggs. You will be provided with a disposition form, allowing you to decide whether to donate your eggs to science or another individual, or dispose of them. Your doctor will be available to assist you in making this decision.
Eggs, sperm, and embryos can be stored indefinitely without a loss in quality or viability, provided they are cryopreserved using advanced techniques and stored in optimal conditions. Advances in cryopreservation have made long-term storage a highly viable option for fertility preservation.
The decision to freeze embryos is deeply personal and involves several factors. Costs can vary significantly, and fertility treatments may not be covered by medical insurance. It's important to weigh your goals, financial considerations, ethical concerns, your partner's preferences, and other relevant factors when making this choice.
Freezing can potentially damage embryos, and thawing them later may also cause harm. If multiple embryos are frozen, some or all may not survive the process. Your healthcare provider will discuss with you whether your embryos are suitable for freezing, thawing, and implantation.
The risks associated with egg retrieval include complications from sedation, as well as potential infection or injury to the bladder, bowel, or blood vessels due to the needle and catheter insertion for egg retrieval. These occurrences are extremely rare. Another possible risk is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can result when the ovaries are overstimulated by medication. For these reasons, patients are carefully monitored throughout the process.
You can’t freeze your sperm at home. Banking your sperm requires a special facility and precise steps to guarantee the health of your sperm