Forbes Talks to PFC Fertility Expert About Egg Freezing Following Announcements on New Fertility Benefits at Two High-Tech Companies
Amidst a flurry of media coverage about new fertility benefits offered by two tech companies, Forbes met with Eldon Schriock, MD, a Pacific Fertility Center physician, to seek clarifications about egg freezing.
Facebook began offering egg freezing and storage as part of its benefits package earlier this year; Apple will begin in January of 2015. Both will cover up to $20,000 of egg-freezing costs, which insurance companies dont typically cover for non-medical purposes. A single round of egg freezing costs about $10,000. Storage is an additional cost.
Dr. Schriock told Forbes that women may choose to freeze their eggs for several reasons, including career considerations, lack of a stable partnership, or imminent cancer treatment, which can destroy a womans eggs and fertility.
No longer considered experimental by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), fertility preservation allows women to freeze their eggs and thaw them at a time that works best for them to create a family. Although the timing is a highly personal choice, Dr. Schriock recommends freezing eggs between the ages of 28 and 34, when the quality and quantity of eggs is likely to still be high.
Dr. Schriock also answered questions about the process of egg freezing, including tests needed to evaluate the ovarian reserves, hormones to produce multiple eggs, and retrieval and freezing. Done under sedation, retrieval of eggs is akin to having blood drawn, he said.
Dr. Schriock also addressed concerns about pregnancy success rates using frozen eggs. They vary depending upon a womans age and other factors, he said, but are comparable to those of fresh eggs once an embryo is created.
About Pacific Fertility Center
Pacific Fertility Center is an international destination for male and female fertility treatment and care. It provides an extensive array of fertility treatment options ranging from intrauterine insemination (IUI), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) to cutting-edge technology such as vitrification and genetic testing of embryos. For more information: www.pacificfertilitycenter.com.
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