Fertility Preservation for
Birth-Designated Females

Hormone therapy and/or sex-reassignment surgery (SRS) are a big, and exciting step. At Rainbow Fertility, we encourage birth-designated females to consider fertility preservation options such as egg or embryo freezing before undergoing SRS and/or hormone therapy. It will give you the freedom to have genetically related children in the future should you want to.

Birth-designated females may choose to freeze their eggs to insure against infertility for other reasons, such as a focus on their career, or the desire to wait until they have found the right partner.

Egg or Embryo Freezing

“Vitrification” is the method used for freezing oocytes (female egg cells)/embryos.

If you’re a birth-designated female who wants to have your eggs frozen, you’ll need to go through the Egg Pick-Up part of the IVF cycle. During this process the eggs are retrieved and frozen for future use. When you’re ready to become a parent, they can be inseminated with donor or male partner sperm.

Alternatively, you can have embryos frozen. For this, you’ll need to undergo an IVF cycle to retrieve and fertilise the eggs (with either donor or male partner sperm) to create the embryos, before freezing them for future use.

Females contemplating fertility treatment should be aware of the possible risks, some of which are comparable to those of elective surgery. We encourage you to discuss these with your treating specialist.

Storage

The standard storage period for eggs is ten years and for embryos five. This period can only be extended in certain circumstances. Our staff will be able to explain whether you can do this, and for how long you may be able to store your eggs/embryos. For more information, visit our page: Eggs, sperm and embryos storage. 

Where do I Start?

If you’re interested in freezing your eggs or embryos for possible future use, please ask your GP or specialist for a referral to see one of our specialists at Rainbow Fertility.

Download Referral Form
click here

PLEASE NOTE:

• People wishing to have assisted reproductive treatment in Victoria must undergo a criminal records check and child protection order check. For further information please visit our page Legislative Requirements – Victoria.
• When contemplating fertility treatment, you should be aware of the possible risks, some of which are comparable to those of elective surgery. We encourage you to discuss these with your treating specialist.
• All treatment procedures are carried out in our RTAC (Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee) accredited fertility clinics, where gametes (eggs/sperm) and embryos are also stored.

Before going ahead with fertility treatment, please consider that each state has different legislation in regard to assisted reproductive treatment, for example:

• In South Australia, according to the state’s legislation, females (single women or lesbian couples) are now able to access Assisted Reproductive Technology services if it appears they are unlikely to achieve a pregnancy, due to personal circumstances, other than by assisted reproductive treatment.

Therefore, we encourage you to refer to your own state legislation for more information and see one of our specialists to discuss your individual circumstances and explore your options.

If you’d like to find out more about our fertility preservation services or discuss the options available to you, just give our friendly team a call or send us a message in confidence.

Call: 1300 222 623
email: info@rainbowfertility.com.au