COLD COMFORT: Is freezing your eggs the key to beating your biological clock?

Elizabeth Schwartz* knew that her biological clock was ticking, but she never expected it to come to this. “I wish I were married and had kids already,” she says. “I wish I didn’t have to be spending all this money. I wish I wasn’t in this place.”

Schwartz is a 38-year-old social-media marketing con- sultant in Boston. In January 2008, she began researching technology that would allow her to freeze her eggs so that she could have children in the future. “I have to do every- thing I can to preserve my fertility,” says Schwartz, who had six mature eggs extracted and frozen at a hospital and stored until she meets Mr. Right. If she is unable to conceive naturally with a future partner, she will have her younger eggs thawed and fertil- ized with his sperm.

Independent Web Site Ranks Seattle IVF Clinic First in State for Live Birth Rates in Women under age 35 and 38-40

SEATTLE, March 15, 2010 — The independent Web site FertilitySuccessRates.com has rated Northwest Center for Reproductive Sciences the top IVF clinic in the state of Washington for women age 35 and under and 38 to 40. NCRS also ranked as one of the top 25 clinics nationwide, based on live-birth rates reported nationally by fertility medical practices.

“This is a compliment to our IVF and embryology team,” said Dr. Michael S. Opsahl of NCRS. “We hope these rankings are useful for couples who are in the complex process of evaluating fertility practices, while also recognizing that these rankings like do not begin to provide the full picture.”

Studies find frozen eggs as good as fresh for IVF—almost 90 percent thawed successfully—dispel doubts about vitrification process

SEATTLE, January 21, 2010 — Fertility specialists responsible for the first pregnancy in the Pacific Northwest resulting from frozen human eggs are hailing new research showing that frozen eggs can be as effective as fresh eggs in helping previously infertile women achieve pregnancy.

Among the new studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in October was one from Reproductive Biology Associates of Atlanta, finding that 85 percent of eggs survived thawing and that subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) of those eggs generated a 67-percent pregnancy rate—as good as the average success rate for fresh eggs. A second study from the New York University Fertility Center reported similar results in women who used frozen eggs to preserve fertility after cancer treatment. “Until recently, egg freezing was largely reserved for women undergoing cancer treatment who set aside their eggs in hopes of preserving post-recovery fertility options,” said Dr. Gerard Letterie of the Northwest Center for Reproductive Science (NCRS).

Letterie’s long-time research interests have included fertility preservation in cancer patients and as an elective option in patients who want to preserve fertility for non-medical reasons. The option was almost non-existent before 2004, and today NCRS is one of a small minority of fertility practices capable of egg freezing, thawing and fertilization.

“The holidays, with their focus on the family, can be painful for couples dealing with in fertility,” says Gerard S Letterie, M.D., of Northwest Center for Reproductive Sciences.

“It is natural to reflect upon your hopes and dreams, losses and grief during the holidays. And if you belong to the imaginary club of ‘Couples Without Children,’ your pain may not be obvious to others,” he said.

“Infertility is a medical condition. It’s not all in your head. Our responses to this condition should to be as positive as possible particularly around the holidays,” he says. Research has shown that the stress associated with fertility treatment can be comparable to the stress associated with serious illness. More than 20 studies have shown that distress can cause or contribute to infertility, the duration of infertility, and indication for successful fertility treatment.