Doctor: Success Rate For Conceiving From Frozen Eggs Not Ideal
RESTON, Va. -- There is a new technique making headlines that says it will free women from their biological clocks.
The concept is simple. Women can freeze their eggs when they're young so they can use them later in life. For women who may put off marriage and children until their 40s, it could be the answer, reported WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.
"Women have to look at this as literally an egg bank," said Dr. Fady Sharara, who runs the Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine in Reston, Va.
For $10,000, Sharara will extract a number of eggs from a young women and then freeze them in nitrogen so that years later, when the woman is ready for a family, they will increase her chances for a pregnancy.
"It's having 30-year-old eggs versus 40-year-old eggs, and the difference is phenomenal," Sharara said.
Here's why: A woman's eggs are best if used when she's in her 20s. As she ages, so do her eggs. By age 40, almost half of her eggs are genetically rotten. And each year, it just gets worse. So the biological clock is not just a worn-out cliché -- it's a reality, the television station reported.
"I thought for sure I would be married by now and have a family," said Kristen Barsden, a Washington, D.C., professional who, at age 35, is getting worried. Egg freezing gives her hope.
"To the degree that technology can better our lives, I think it's great," Barsden said.
But will freezing eggs now guarantee a baby later?
Christy Jones is a 34-year-old with a Harvard MBA who just started Extend Fertility, a company offering egg freezing and storage for $15,000. She admits the success rate from frozen eggs is not ideal.
"Published reports show a 30 percent pregnancy rate for women who freeze their eggs," Jones said.
But some fertility experts say even that is not realistic.
"It's a good business model but bad science," said Dr. Eric Widra, of Shady Grove Fertility, which has clinics in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. "There's no program I've seen with 30 percent delivery rate that comes from any frozen egg material."
The problem is the human egg. It's the most complex cell in the body and is made mostly of water. Freezing and thawing it can cause damage. Even the clinic in Italy that perfected the technique has a success rate of just 14 percent.
And a woman in her 40s using her 40-year-old eggs would have the same odds.
Doctors say the optimum age for freezing is in a woman's 20s or early 30s. Clinics also charge $400 to $500 per year for storage,
and there are more fees for thawing the eggs. Insurance does not cover the procedure.
RESTON, Va. -- There is a new technique making headlines that says it will free women from their biological clocks.
The concept is simple. Women can freeze their eggs when they're young so they can use them later in life. For women who may put off marriage and children until their 40s, it could be the answer, reported WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.
"Women have to look at this as literally an egg bank," said Dr. Fady Sharara, who runs the Virginia Center for Reproductive Medicine in Reston, Va.
For $10,000, Sharara will extract a number of eggs from a young women and then freeze them in nitrogen so that years later, when the woman is ready for a family, they will increase her chances for a pregnancy.
"It's having 30-year-old eggs versus 40-year-old eggs, and the difference is phenomenal," Sharara said.
Here's why: A woman's eggs are best if used when she's in her 20s. As she ages, so do her eggs. By age 40, almost half of her eggs are genetically rotten. And each year, it just gets worse. So the biological clock is not just a worn-out cliché -- it's a reality, the television station reported.
"I thought for sure I would be married by now and have a family," said Kristen Barsden, a Washington, D.C., professional who, at age 35, is getting worried. Egg freezing gives her hope.
"To the degree that technology can better our lives, I think it's great," Barsden said.
But will freezing eggs now guarantee a baby later?
Christy Jones is a 34-year-old with a Harvard MBA who just started Extend Fertility, a company offering egg freezing and storage for $15,000. She admits the success rate from frozen eggs is not ideal.
"Published reports show a 30 percent pregnancy rate for women who freeze their eggs," Jones said.
But some fertility experts say even that is not realistic.
"It's a good business model but bad science," said Dr. Eric Widra, of Shady Grove Fertility, which has clinics in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. "There's no program I've seen with 30 percent delivery rate that comes from any frozen egg material."
The problem is the human egg. It's the most complex cell in the body and is made mostly of water. Freezing and thawing it can cause damage. Even the clinic in Italy that perfected the technique has a success rate of just 14 percent.
And a woman in her 40s using her 40-year-old eggs would have the same odds.
Doctors say the optimum age for freezing is in a woman's 20s or early 30s. Clinics also charge $400 to $500 per year for storage,
and there are more fees for thawing the eggs. Insurance does not cover the procedure.