Most women is born with between 250,000 and 500,000 eggs in her ovaries. New eggs are not created after birth. Although that seems like more eggs than a woman would need in her lifetime, the biological reality is that 1,000 of her eggs are consumed each month in the process that selects the healthiest egg for ovulation each month. So if a woman produces 12 eggs in a year, 12,000 of her eggs are actually used up. From the time that a woman begins to menstruate, 12,000 eggs have been deducted from her egg reserve each year. By the time she reaches her early 20s, 120,000 eggs of her supply have been used up. At such a rate, A woman born with 250,000 eggs could have used up 1/2 of her egg supply by the time that she reaches her early 20”s.
Both in terms of quantity and in quality, a woman’s eggs decrease with her age. The greatest chance of natural conception happening is in the interval between her teenage years and her early-thirties. Once a woman reaches the age of 35, the chances of success with in-vitro fertilization drops to 20% per treatment, and then at 40 it hits a depressing 5% per cycle.
So what do you do if your optimal window (that 25-32 sweet spot) for having a baby is just not the right time for you? Rather than feeling rushed or just letting fate control your ability to have a baby, CONSIDER EXPANDING your options BY FREEZING your eggs. It is a simpler process than you may imagine and is not nearly as expensive as it was years ago.
Many women not aware of how easily Checking out fertility potential is accomplished. It can be done in a single visit to the doctor’s office in the early part of the menstrual cycle. A blood test called the AMH (antimullerian hormone) level is performed. The AMH level correlates with the number of eggs remaining in a woman’s ovaries. The higher the AMH level, the more eggs remain in a woman’s ovaries. The AMH level correlates with how many eggs a woman will produce when her ovaries are stimulated by fertility drugs in order to save her eggs. AMH levels can be drawn at any time of the menstrual cycle and gives valid results even when a woman is taking birth control pills.
At Protect Fertility, we focus on YOU and your needs.
YOUR GOALS ARE OUR GOALS: we want to help you preserve your chances of having a baby in the most safe, effective, comfortable way possible, at an affordable cost. The goal is to preserve enough of your eggs that could produce a pregnancy at some future point in time, either for a first pregnancy or for a second or third child, if a first pregnancy occurs naturally. Depending upon your age when your eggs are frozen, fewer eggs are needed to create a pregnancy than if you are over 35. under the age of 25 years, approximately 1 out of 3 to 1 of 6 eggs are genetically healthy enough to produce a pregnancy naturally. as age increases, more eggs, as indicated by the number of months that are needed to achieve a pregnancy, so that at the age of 40, an excess of 20 mature eggs might be needed TO create A PREGNANCY. our goal is to help you freeze a minimum of 12 eggs if you are UNDER 34 years of age AND as many as possible if you are over 35 and still have a good supply of eggs remaining in your ovaries.
Our experience indicates that most young women who bank their eggs are fertile and do not always need to receive the same amount of fertility medications as an infertile woman who has been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby for years. At many clinics such distinctions aren’t made, and all women are required to take daily injections of the same medications as do infertility patients. We believe that many young, fertile woman may produce the same number of eggs with our Fertile Stimulation Program as with the daily high dose treatment protocols. the fertile stimulation egg stimulation protocol involves fewer injections, fewer blood draws and less office visits. Less medications used means substantial savings in the cost of fertility drugs. Not all women will qualify for the Fertile Stimulation program. Qualifying criteria are age less than 35 years, an Anti-Mullerian Hormone level of greater than 3.0, a Day three FSH of less than eight, and an Estradiol level than 80. If it is determined that a woman does not have a good chance of producing a good response with the fertile stimulation, a daily fertility drug injection protocol will be recommended. Whichever stimulation protocol is used, if a woman does not produce an adequate amount of egg follicles, the freeze cycle will be cancelled prior to the egg retrieval without charge to the patient.
Ovarian hyperstimulation an infrequent, but serious risk for all women taking fertility medications, especially in younger, healthy women who have a lot of eggs. Our Fertile Stimulation greatly reduces the chances of hyperstimulation. ovarian hyper stimulation is not caused by the fertility drugs used to stimulate egg production. it results from the final injection, a form of pregnancy hormone (ovidrel or pregnyl) which completes the Final maturation of the eggs in the follicles. In our fertile stimulation protocols, we use another medication, not related to pregnancy hormone, to complete the maturation of the eggs without over stimulating the ovaries. Fertility medications also have emotional side effects and creates bloating and water retention. These unpleasant symptoms are lessened because to we are able to use less fertility injections without sacrificing egg production. The egg retrieval part has excellent track record for both safety and patient comfort. Preoperative antibiotics are given the night before the procedure to prevent the possibility of an infection. The eggs are obtained from the ovaries using fine needle guided by ultrasound placed through the vagina into the ovary. During the procedure, the patient experiences no pain since they are sleep under an anesthesia administered through an arm vein by a board certified anesthesiologist. The procedure lasts no more then 15 minutes. When the patient awakes, She is unaware of the procedure having been performed. Before awakening, the patient is given a nonnarcotic pain medication, which prevents almost all Post operative discomfort. At most, a fullness or mild crampiness maybe experienced for a few hours after the procedure.
You can choose from our after-work style consultation hours, then you determine the date you start your egg freezing cycle. For most women, the ovaries are put to rest with birth control pills for a short period of time prior to starting the egg simulation process. We can start your simulation protocol at a time that is convenient for you. Depending upon which stimulation protocol is best for your egg production, medications and egg retrieval usually done in10-14 days start to finish. During that time, you can keep L-I-V-I-N-G your life without hassle. Work, socialize, even have a cocktail or two – no problem, none of these activities will compromise the procedure! According to your medication protocol, you can schedule your appointments at times that work best for you. (). The day of egg retrieval is the only day that you need to miss work.
Your first consultation is completely free. Come to our office and sit down with one of our physicians to determine if egg freezing is a fit for your life. During your visit you will have an ultrasound and we will draw your blood to assess your ovarian reserve to ensure egg freezing is suitable option for you.
A big factor in deciding whether or not to freeze your eggs is cost. We totally get it; you have a lot of demands on your wallet. We also don’t want to deceive you. Our fees are $6,000, which includes anesthesia and all operating room and laboratory fees. The only thing that you pay for are the fertility drugs. At most clinics you should budget $3,000-$4,000 for medications to complete the process and anesthesiologists fees and operating room fees may not be included. Not everyone will tell you about these additional costs, but we do because we know you have better things to do than look for hidden costs, and frankly, its just not the way we build relationships.
The medication costs for our Fertile Stimulation are less than $1,000 while a full course of injectable gonadotropins costs between $2,900 – $4,300 for the medication alone. Fertile Stimulation requires a combination of an oral fertility drug, Clomid®(clomiphene citrate pills), and 5-6 injections of follicle stimulating hormone gonadotropins), and an injection of Lupron® (leuprolide acetate) to trigger your ovulation without causing ovarian hyperstimulation. See a more detailed description of Fertile Stimulation here.
Like many options in life, there is a cost-benefit relationship. Freezing your eggs now so you have peace of mind knowing you have time to find the right partner and build your career is a small financial investment. To give you further options, we also offer a financing option so you don’t have to go without brunch (or electricity) to make an investment in yourself and your future.
With financing, egg freezing can be paid off over time for as little as $200 / month. We work with two specialty healthcare lenders who are familiar with egg freezing, so the process is quick and straightforward. We offer access to these specialty lenders to make the process easier, and we do not collect any fees related to financing.