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Trying to Conceive Community

Last Reply:

Includes Expert Content

Question on egg retrieval and speculums

An_246434 posted:

Dear Doctor, I have another question on egg retrieval, I would like to do egg retrieval to freeze my eggs while I am young because I am not ready to have children yet, but one day in the future, I will be ready to have kids when I meet the right guy to marry. Because I am young and I come from a conservative family, I have had intercourse only a few times. I am not sure if this is why I could not do a pap smear. Perhaps another reason why is because the doctor is a family doctor and she is not a gynecologist and she had only 1 speculum whereas I heard that gynecologists should have speculums of different sizes. Anyway, we ended up not continuing with the pap smear test because it was getting very uncomfortable for me so we stopped doing the pap smear. Afterwards, I didn't even book another appointment with another gynecologist/specialist because that experience was so uncomfortable and kind of embarrassing. I was wondering that if I want to do egg retrieval, will the tightness of my vagina walls be a problem? I have heard that the during the 2 weeks where the patient was given the fertility medication, she will need to be monitored during those weeks, and the monitoring that the clinic does will use vaginal ultrasound, which will have the monitoring device inserted into the patient's vagina, but that device is only as thick as a tampon, is that correct? If so, then I assume that I will be fine, because I have used tampons before. Also, what about on the actual egg retrieval date? Will the doctor use a needle to get the eggs or will the doctor also need to use a speculum? If only a need is used, then obviously, I should be fine, but if the doctor needs to use a speculum during egg retrieval, then I think I would want to schedule a pap smear before I do egg retrieval. Thanks so much for your help and time! Joanne.

1 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Question on egg retrieval and speculumsDear Doctor, I have another question on egg retrieval, I would like to do egg retrieval to freeze my eggs while I am young because I am not ready to have children yet, but one day in the future, I will be ready to have kids when I meet the right guy to marry. Because I am young and I come from a conservative family, I have had intercourse only a few times. I am not sure if this is why I could not do a pap smear. Perhaps another reason why is because the doctor is a family doctor and she is not a gynecologist and she had only 1 speculum whereas I heard that gynecologists should have speculums of different sizes. Anyway, we ended up not continuing with the pap smear test because it was getting very uncomfortable for me so we stopped doing the pap smear. Afterwards, I didn't even book another appointment with another gynecologist/specialist because that experience was so uncomfortable and kind of embarrassing. I was wondering that if I want to do egg retrieval, will the tightness of my vagina walls be a problem? I have heard that the during the 2 weeks where the patient was given the fertility medication, she will need to be monitored during those weeks, and the monitoring that the clinic does will use vaginal ultrasound, which will have the monitoring device inserted into the patient's vagina, but that device is only as thick as a tampon, is that correct? If so, then I assume that I will be fine, because I have used tampons before. Also, what about on the actual egg retrieval date? Will the doctor use a needle to get the eggs or will the doctor also need to use a speculum? If only a need is used, then obviously, I should be fine, but if the doctor needs to use a speculum during egg retrieval, then I think I would want to schedule a pap smear before I do egg retrieval. Thanks so much for your help and time! Joanne.

Joel Bernstien, MD responded:

I am not an infertility specialist but maybe I can provide some insight. First, I am not sure if they have to do a speculum exam to do a retrieval. But even if they did, you will be slightly sedated. Second, make sure you get some good opinions on egg freezing and the value of doing so and the success rates of pregnancy after. I trained where my faculty are some of the best in the country and they were not offering it yet (unless you had cancer) because the evidence was not great. Frozen embryos (ie: eggs that have been combined with sperm already and have been fertilized and grown to a few cells) have been stored frozen with successfull pregnancy for years. Eggs alone that have been frozen may not afford the same success rates. I do not know how old you are to give advice on this, but definately recommend meeting MORE THAN ONE specialist to get their take on the pros and cons of this. I know many professionally driven single woman who have looked into it and have decided not to move forward.

Best of luck with your decision.

Report This| Share this:Question on egg retrieval and speculumsI am not an infertility specialist but maybe I can provide some insight. First, I am not sure if they have to do a speculum exam to do a retrieval. But even if they did, you will be slightly sedated. Second, make sure you get some good opinions on egg freezing and the value of doing so and the success rates of pregnancy after. I trained where my faculty are some of the best in the country and they were not offering it yet (unless you had cancer) because the evidence was not great. Frozen embryos (ie: eggs that have been combined with sperm already and have been fertilized and grown to a few cells) have been stored frozen with successfull pregnancy for years. Eggs alone that have been frozen may not afford the same success rates. I do not know how old you are to give advice on this, but definately recommend meeting MORE THAN ONE specialist to get their take on the pros and cons of this. I know many professionally driven single woman who have looked into it and have decided not to move forward. <br /> <br />Best of luck with your decision.

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