Oocyte Cryopreservation Program and Success Rates
Fertility preservation through oocyte (egg) freezing allows women to store eggs at a younger age for use when they are older and is now an important part of modern day culture. Whether eggs are being cryopreserved as a medical emergency in the setting of a newly-diagnosed cancer or for personal reasons, the technology holds great promise for women of reproductive age. To date, there are over 900 births worldwide (greater than 600 reported in the last three years) as a result of egg freezing.
The process involves stimulating eggs in the woman's ovaries and then harvesting and storing those eggs for use at a later date. Oocyte quality is best when a woman is in her reproductive prime (age 16 to 28). Many eggs are usually still of good quality in the mid-reproductive years (age 29 to 38) and may remain usable (but with diminished chance for producing pregnancy) in the late-reproductive period (age 39 to 44). If necessary or desired, it is best to have eggs that are frozen when they are of the best quality possible. For instance, eggs frozen at the age of 35 are more usable than fresh oocytes produced at 43 years of age.
The center has a staff dedicated to the egg freezing program to assure patients are properly cared for, counseled and supported. We know this is a big decision for many women and we want to make the process as comfortable and easy as possible. To date, more than 200 women have chosen to freeze their eggs with us; 80% were for the purpose of deferred reproduction and 20% for medical indications.
Our Success Rates
We have achieved significant success with egg freezing and thawing. To date, 28 cycles have been performed where both freezing and thawing have been completed; these cycles have resulted in 12 women delivering 17 liveborn children (5 sets of twins) and one woman miscarrying. In addition, three pregnancies are ongoing, with two nearing delivery. This translates to a 54% delivery/ongoing pregnancy rate per cycle. All eggs in these cycles were obtained from women less than 38 years of age, but overall the success was similar to what we see in our general IVF patients matched for age.
We feel confident as our egg freezing program expands and more women are ready to thaw and use their stored oocytes, the success rates will remain similar to those of our regular, fresh IVF cycles.
If you are interested in or need more preliminary information about egg freezing, learn more about how to get started with egg freezing.
A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because patient medical characteristics, treatment approaches and entrance criteria for ART may vary from clinic to clinic.
