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Elective Egg Freezing for Fertility Preservation in "Aging Women”
Egg freezing is an exciting and potentially “life changing” assisted reproductive procedure offered at Reproductive Care Center fertility clinic for women wishing to preserve their fertility. While the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) still considers it to be experimental, in our opinion, egg freezing technology has improved to the point that egg freezing with appropriate counseling and informed consent, may be considered for single women desiring to preserve fertility (prior to age 38 but the earlier the better). 
While improving, egg freezing is certainly in its infancy and the ASRM strongly cautions women considering the procedure as a way to routinely avoid egg decline due to aging. The Society urges women to consider the cost, chances of success, clinical history, and many other factors.
Donor egg IVF is the primary means that most women with diminished ovarian reserve use to become pregnant. We have an active and very successful donor egg program in Utah.
Eggs from a young female are retrieved in an IVF cycle and then combined with the male partner's sperm. The recipient's cycle has been synchronized so that she is ready to accept the fertilized eggs (embryos). The major disadvantage of donor egg IVF is that the child will have the DNA of the father and the egg donor, not the mother. If eggs are frozen when a woman is younger (preferably less than age 37), then used for IVF at a later time, the mothers genetic makeup (DNA in her frozen eggs) will be present in the child.
If a woman decides to proceed with egg freezing, after informed consent, the eggs are retrieved after ovarian stimulation with fertility drugs, such as follicle stimulating hormone (FSH, Gonal-F, Follistim, Bravelle, Menopur, etc.). These drugs cause the ovary to produce multiple eggs as ovarian follicles are directly stimulated by FSH. The eggs are then frozen for use in the future.
When a woman decides that she is ready to pursue a family, she returns to the fertility clinic and undergoes an IVF cycle using her frozen eggs. A healthy woman can support a pregnancy well into her late forties and early fifties. The main limiting factor to pregnancy in older women is poor egg quality which is hopefully avoided by using her "young" frozen/thawed eggs.
If you would like more information about this exciting, but currently experimental technology, please call our office to schedule an appointment with one of our infertility specialists. Currently, significant financial discounts are offered for participation in this research.
RCC in the News
More women turning to freezing eggs for extended ...
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