Radell is a 34 year old entrepreneur living in the Washington, D.C. area. She happens to be single, and after a few years of contemplation, decided to freeze her eggs at Shady Grove Fertility. Following her decision to freeze and completing her egg freezing cycle, she had the desire to spread awareness about egg freezing by sharing insight and advice for women who are considering this option. Over the next few months, Radell will be writing blogs describing this experience from her point of view.
Part 1: Am I Even Fertile?
Why I took it one baby step at a time.
As you might recall from my first blog, Top Five Reasons I Decided to Freeze My Eggs, the process of finding my way to egg freezing took quite some time. In fact, when it was all said and done, from the first time I had heard about egg freezing to the actual time I made the decision to freeze was about four years. A lot went into making my decision, and the first thing I had to do, was allow myself the time to discover if this was really for me. I think it is also important to consider that over the years, I had learned from older friends and colleagues two important things: that fertility issues are not something you want to learn about when you want to start your family and that I knew there was a possibility that I might not even be fertile. Now I know this takes the sexiness out of things, but let’s just keep it real.
So there I was: it was April, I was approaching my 34th birthday, no longer in a relationship, and I was – stuck. I was about 75% sure I wanted to freeze my eggs and aware that it was possible that I might not even be fertile. I was also about to travel internationally for a few months, so before I left, I wanted to just see if it was possible for me to freeze my eggs. I wanted to dip my toe in before diving in. Was this even possible?
“Let’s do it.”
Soon enough, I would learn that the Ovarian Reserve Test was the exact thing to do just that. I reached out to my nurse, okay, my sister, at Shady Grove Fertility, and shyly said, “So what is the first thing to do just to know if I even have any eggs to freeze?” “Easy,” she said, “Just let me know when your first day of your period begins and I will schedule you a visit.” This was all she told me. It seemed just a little too easy. I wanted to ask so many questions, but I fought hard, swallowed, and said, “Okay, Let’s do it.”
I learned that this test was the Ovarian Reserve Test which Shady Grove Fertility physicians use to help determine what the outcome will be for a woman if she decides to freeze her eggs, helping women to decide if egg freezing is right for them. So that piece of information was very useful.
“Just 30 minutes, and I was out.”
When it was time for my first Ovarian Reserve Test, I was a bit of a nervous nelly. Even though the process was fairly easy and the teams worked together fast and efficiently, unsettled me had a few questions rolling around in my brain such as, “What does my ovarian reserve look like? Will I find out something I really don’t want to know?” I had to deal with these questions, plus a pelvic ultrasound during my period (which was not the most pleasant experience; it wasn’t painful, just a little awkward for me.) Though I was uncomfortable, I had to keep reminding myself to trust them; they are the professionals, after all! After 30 minutes it was all done and I was out.
Then I just had to wait to meet my Shady Grove Fertility doctor for my results.
