(WFLX) - Freezing is heating up! We're talking about egg freezing, and for the growing number of women choosing to postpone parenthood, having a backup to aging eggs is a dream that doctors say is now within reach.
After a walk down the aisle ended in divorce, 34-year-old Melanie Bradshaw walked into a fertility clinic. "I didn't want to give up that dream of still having that family and having the kids and everything."
So Melanie underwent a procedure to harvest and freeze her eggs while continuing to search for 'Mr. Right'. "I think that it's taken the pressure off of my shoulders, and it allows me to go and date and meet people."
No longer labeled 'experimental', egg freezing has gone mainstream! Fertility experts across the country report a surge in healthy women choosing to put their eggs on ice hoping to preserve their fertility for the future.
Dr. Eric Widra, with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, credits the bump to significant advances in freezing technology. "There are two primary ways that people freeze eggs. We've optimized both of these technologies to the point where experienced centers now see comparable success rates from eggs that were frozen from either method to those that are fertilized fresh."
Making freezing a hot topic among women ranging from their late 20s to early 40s. "Now, we feel like rather than an empty promise, there's real hope that we're giving patients."
Psychologist Dr. Joann Galst says many of these patients are also buying time to focus on life goals, like finding a partner, finishing school or straightening out finances. "There's also a focus on, for women, on establishing their careers before they start their families."
While egg banking may help "freeze" parenting plans, Dr. Widra says, the technology is still considered young.
Only about 2,000 babies have been born from frozen eggs worldwide mainly via donation programs, "Where eggs are frozen from young women for a short period of time. So we don't yet know whether freezing eggs from older women, or for a longer period of time, will have consequences. We don't think it will, but we don't know yet".
It's also important to keep in mind that freezing eggs is not a fail-safe insurance policy. "Even with high quality eggs, it's not a guarantee that there will be implantation, and the live birth that results which is the ultimate goal."
Melanie still plans to try and conceive naturally, but feels good having a backup plan in place. "For me, it's empowerment, and it's made me a lot stronger."
Egg freezing isn't typically covered by insurance. With a price tag ranging from $5,000 to more than $10,000, plus medication costs and egg storage fees, more women are starting to plan ahead.
Some are adding egg banking to their list of financial goals while others are starting a separate savings account for the surgery.
留言列表
留言列表
張宏吉醫師 (16)