Game Changer in the World of Fertility Preservation

Game changer in fertility preservation! Apple and Facebook will now pay for women to freeze their eggs. Most likely other corporate giants will follow suit.

This is a progressive and thoughtful move by these two Silicon Valley giants who no doubt have many single professional women within their ranks. However, despite the fact that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recently discontinued the “experimental” label for egg freezing, women should know that there have been less than 4000 published births from egg freezing and that the majority of these births occurred in women under 35, many of whom were egg donors in their 20’s. Furthermore, although dozens of fertility clinics are offering egg freezing in the United States, only a handful have actually published their data about births from frozen eggs.

The frozen egg birth rate from women in their 30’s is 45% at Santa Monica Fertility. This rate rivals that of frozen embryos, the only other way a woman can preserve fertility, but requires sperm. Many single women freeze eggs with the hope of building a family some day. Interestingly, a small percentage of the women who freeze their eggs return to use their eggs. At our clinic, one of these women is carrying a baby from her 43 year old frozen eggs, and is due to deliver her baby later this year at age 48, likely making her the oldest woman to succeed from her frozen eggs. At Santa Monica Fertility we are currently doing a research study to understand return rates in women who freeze their eggs.

Women contemplating egg freezing should confirm a fertility clinic’s experience with egg freezing and remember that although egg freezing may be the best alternative to other reproductive choices such as pregnancy or embryo freezing, it still lacks data for women over the age of 35.

For more information on egg freezing feel free to call or email our clinic anytime, or click here.