Unfortunately, our society has stigmatized discussing reproduction and egg freezing with young men and women today. Family doctors are tasked with health maintenance, check-ups, and shots, but are not prepared to sit down with young women and provide reproductive health medical information that is critical for women to understand. As a result, young women are left to their own devices, and often find misleading information around the Internet and through conversations with friends.
One leading study from New Zealand showed that 74% of women presenting to fertility clinic had inadequate fertility awareness. An article by CNN went through the common fertility misconceptions we accept as true today, like “40 being the new 30.” Though women are working in bigger numbers today, fertility health decreases drastically in women after the age of 35, contributing to difficulties in conception.
It’s important to remember that even if both partners are very fertile, in their 20s, with good health, they have, at best, about a 25% chance of conceiving a child in any given month. Though we focus our attention on contraception, we need to focus more on safe and healthy conception at the right time.
Family Doctors
There is no secret that the media contributes to the misunderstanding surrounding fertility. The best way for women to go about receiving accurate, reliable information is through family doctors. Knowledge is power, and the more women who make a commitment to seeking out the right knowledge, the better. Plus, encouraging family doctors to educate young girls about this information will contribute to a better understanding altogether in the future.
Family doctors can do preliminary fertility investigations to screen for reproductive health, as well as to rule out any infertility issues. It’s critical that women understand their restriction of their fertility window so they can make an informed decision to freeze their eggs at their peak reproductive timeframe if they are not ready to have children. These fertility tests can include medical examination, blood tests to measure hormonal levels, and trans-vaginal ultrasounds to check the uterus and ovaries. These tests give doctors a full scope of the reproductive system, alerting them to any abnormalities or inconsistencies.
FrzMyEggs
Though there is no substitution for visiting an accredited and reliable family doctor, women can do more to educate themselves on fertility information in the mean time. With our mobile app, FrzMyEggs, we provide comprehensive, scientifically backed egg freezing information that can be accessed anywhere, at anytime, at no costs to the end users. Our app can even make success rate estimations for users based on their inputted information. Using the app calculator, women can learn a lot about egg freezing, as well as their success likelihood at any given time.
Our app is no substitute for professional medical procedures overseen in a doctor’s office, but it is able to make expert recommendations to assist women on their quest to preserve and freeze their eggs for family planning purpose.
References
- “Top doc reveals 8 fertility misconceptions,” Joshua U. Klein, CNN Health
- “Ask the doctor: 10 questions about egg freezing,” Fertility Centers of Illinois
- FrzMyEggs, CReATe Fertility Centre