Egg Freezing Isn’t a Sure Thing: Aproko Doctor Warns Women Against Misconceptions

(Aproko Doctor. photo by Business day)

Popular health influencer and medical doctor Chinonso Egemba, known as Aproko Doctor, has moved to correct widespread misconceptions about egg freezing, cautioning that the procedure does not guarantee pregnancy at any stage of life, contrary to claims commonly circulated online.

In a video shared on his social media page on Tuesday, Egemba addressed growing misinformation about the procedure, particularly the notion that women who freeze their eggs can conceive at any age without limitation.

He explained that egg freezing medically referred to as oocyte cryopreservation involves extracting a woman's eggs, preserving them at extremely low temperatures where all biological activity ceases, and storing them for future use.

He likened the concept to preserving food, noting that the idea is to keep the eggs in their younger, healthier state until they are needed.

The process, he explained, begins with hormone injections administered over 10 to 14 days to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs at once, rather than the single egg typically released each month.

Once matured, the eggs are retrieved using a small ultrasound-guided needle while the patient is under sedation.

They are then preserved through a rapid freezing technique known as vitrification and stored at approximately minus 196 degrees Celsius.

Egemba noted that women choose to freeze their eggs for a variety of reasons, including career planning, deliberate delay of childbearing, or medical conditions such as cancer treatment that may compromise future fertility.

However, he stressed emphatically that egg freezing is not the same as having a guaranteed baby in reserve. He warned that not all eggs survive the thawing process, not all will fertilise successfully, and not all fertilised eggs will develop into a viable pregnancy.

His position was supported by a 2024 report from CCRM Fertility, which indicated that the chances of achieving pregnancy following the implantation of frozen eggs range from approximately 30 to 60 percent, with outcomes varying depending on several individual factors.

Egemba also clarified that egg freezing has no connection whatsoever to contraception or protection against sexually transmitted infections, and dismissed claims that frozen eggs are less effective than fresh ones, noting that advances in fertility medicine have significantly improved success rates.

He urged Nigerians to consult certified fertility specialists rather than rely on social media or hearsay when considering fertility preservation, adding that specialists typically assess a woman's ovarian reserve before advising on whether the procedure is suitable.