Years ago, companies such as Apple and Facebook made headlines when they offered to cover the cost of freezing their female employees' eggs in order to avoid career interruptions due to maternity. Interestingly, while there is debate about the role of employers in family planning, the practice of "social freezing" has been quietly taking place in Germany for years. Did you know that a Munich-based reproduction center has been covering the costs of freezing its employees' eggs since 2007?
One of her patients, Arline, decided to have her eggs frozen at the age of 25 to regain more control over her life and family planning. While egg retrieval and storage is not necessarily expensive, some people like Arline can benefit from their employer covering the cost of the procedure.
Some may be critical of this and wonder if 25 isn't too early, but according to Dr. Jörg Puchta, a specialist in reproductive medicine, it's the quality that matters most. As a woman is born with all her eggs, freezing them at a younger age preserves their quality, which increases the chances of a successful pregnancy later on. Over the last decade, cryogenics has made remarkable advances and revolutionized the way we preserve biological material such as eggs. Thanks to innovative techniques and technologies such as vitrification, egg freezing has become more efficient and reliable. In vitrification, oocytes are cooled to -196 degrees Celsius at ultra-fast speed, minimizing the formation of ice crystals and preserving the delicate structure of the oocytes.
At Consarctic, we understand the importance of state-of-the-art cryotechnology in reproductive medicine. Our state-of-the-art solutions ensure the safe and reliable storage of biological samples, including oocytes, for future use. With our expertise and commitment to excellence, we are proud to support advances in reproductive medicine that empower people to take control of their future.