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Pacific Fertility Center's Egg Bank Marks Major Milestone

Pacific Fertility Center's Egg Bank Marks Major Milestone

PFC’s Pacific Fertility Egg Bank (PFEB) celebrated a milestone this spring when the 100^th baby was born through its donor egg bank program. This progress mirrors a growth in the use of frozen donor eggs nationally. According to the the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), there’s been a 34 percent increase in embryo transfers using frozen donor eggs from 2013 to 2015, the most recent year of statistics available.

At PFC, the first baby from frozen donor eggs was born in 2008. However, PFC spent years refining laboratory techniques such as egg-freezing technology (vitrification) before PFEB opened its doors in August of 2012, making it the first independent egg bank in Northern California. The early vision for PFEB was to broaden access and options for patients wanting to start or expand their families with the use of donor eggs.

“We set out to create this program so that donor eggs could be more accessible,” said Daragh Castaneda, Program Director at PFEB. “There were too few egg donors available and the price tag made it difficult for most people to afford. We just knew there had to be a better way. It took some time to build our donor egg bank, but I am very proud of our program and where we are today.”

Although only eight donor profiles were initially available, today PFEB can offer nearly 50 donor profiles with frozen eggs available for immediate use. Donors at PFEB are thoroughly screened using the most up-to-date recommendations. Donor applicants undergo an extensive medical, psychological, and genetic screening, including an expanded carrier screening panel testing for 274 genetic conditions.

For those who are eligible, frozen donor egg cycles offer many benefits including lower costs, quicker cycle starts, and more flexible scheduling than with fresh donor egg cycles. On average, PFEB patients complete their treatment cycles within two months at nearly half the cost of fresh donor egg cycles. By contrast, a traditional fresh donor egg cycle requires coordination and synchronization with the chosen donor, and treatment from start to finish can take as long as three to six months.

In collaboration with Pacific Fertility Center, PFEB offers one of the most compelling guarantees for intended parents. Patients will receive two embryos frozen at the blastocyst stage, which is the stage at which an embryo is ready to implant in the uterus. PFEB created this guarantee program to maximize pregnancy success. This guarantee, combined with the extensive technical expertise of PFC physicians and embryologists, has allowed PFC to achieve a rate of 53 percent for clinical pregnancies—defined as a sac seen on ultrasound at roughly seven to nine months.

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), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and IVF with ovum donor to cutting-edge laboratory techniques and technology such as introcytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), vitrification, and genetic testing of embryos: comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS), and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). For more information, go to: www.pacificfertilitycenter.com.

About the Pacific Fertility Egg Bank
The Pacific Fertility Egg Bank is a full-service frozen donor egg program located in San Francisco, CA. Through its relationship with Pacific Fertility Center, the Pacific Fertility Egg Bank can offer clients from around the world extremely high IVF success rates, greater convenience, and lower costs. For more information, go to: www.pacificfertilityeggbank.com.

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Pacific Fertility Center
55 Francisco Street, Fifth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94133

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