I'm telling you about my first appointment for egg freezing.

As we told you in a story on the @gapianne account, 3 out of 4 of us at Gapianne are following the egg freezing procedure in France.

And yes! For very different reasons, we all wanted to preserve our eggs to consider (or not) motherhood a little later.

We knew nothing about the process, so we decided to tell you about our experience as we went along. We hope this article will be useful and help you with your process (which, as you can imagine, can be a bit overwhelming!).

In this video from Bien-être Simple (Simply Well), Why did I FROZEN my eggs? Jennifer, co-founder of Gapianne, discusses the key steps of egg conservation, the emotions she went through, and the advice she would give to those considering this process.📌

PRESERVING YOUR OOCYTES BY FREEZING

THE news of 2021 was the August 2nd law on bioethics, which opened up societal oocyte vitrification to all women in France!
In practice, egg freezing involves three steps:

• First of all, during the first appointment, the patient's situation is studied , as well as the probabilities of success of the sample and the possible risks.

• A series of tests are then carried out, including blood tests, gynecological examinations and ultrasounds.

• The last step is the puncture .

Here I share with you my experience and the important information I gathered during my first appointment.

Please feel free to comment or write to us if you have any additional information!

WHAT I LEARNED ON MY FIRST APPOINTMENT

The egg freezing procedure is now called vitrification (rapid freezing technique), is open to all women aged 29 to 37 and has been covered by social security since 2021.

WHAT IS AMP (MEDICALLY ASSISTED PROCREATION)?

Every woman can make the very personal choice to postpone motherhood and start a family later. The egg freezing procedure is part of a process called assisted reproductive technology (ART).

• This procedure is open to all women aged 29 to 37 and has been covered by social security since 2021.

• The remaining freezing costs you pay vary from €40 to €200 per year .

• Freezing your eggs does not mean that you will no longer be able to conceive naturally.

• The procedure involves stimulating egg production to bring them to peak maturity, then retrieving them at a specific time. To me, it's like a kind of life insurance, and my ob-gyn told me, "I hope you don't have to use them, but by preserving your eggs, you maximize your chances of being able to conceive."

HOW TO PROCEED?

Given the high demand and the potentially challenging process, I suggest you follow my own egg freezing experience here in Gapianne. I'll share the information I've gathered.

• Make an appointment with a gynecologist specializing in fertility. I went to the Medical Institute of Fertility and made an appointment with Dr. Soizic Le Parco, who had been recommended to me by a friend. I found her very pleasant, reassuring, and informative.

• She wrote me a letter of recommendation to send to hospitals in Paris that perform the procedure, specifying that it would take time due to the large number of requests in the Paris region. She will ask if you have ties elsewhere than Paris, as the procedure may take less time in other regions of France.

• She prescribed two tests for me: an endovaginal pelvic ultrasound during my next period and a blood test.

• Ultrasound can detect undiagnosed endometriosis, for example, but in my case, the focus is not on my ability to conceive naturally.

• She provided me with a list of hospital email addresses to contact to schedule egg retrieval appointments. However, these appointments can take months to secure due to hospital overcrowding.

• I'm sharing the contact details I collected here for those who are interested (and who live in Paris or the Paris suburbs):

• I received responses, but each hospital has a different procedure, so I recommend creating a tracking file so you know when to follow up. In any case, having a referral letter from a gynecologist saves time.

As I said, this is my experience, feel free to share yours with us! I will keep you informed of upcoming events!

- Anne

And if the subject of fertility interests you in its entirety, here is an article co-written with Pauline Benaroch, a dietician specializing in fertility: HOW TO BOOST YOUR FERTILITY NATURALLY: 6 TIPS .