Egg Freezing Press Release

For Immediate Release

New England Fertility Institute Offers Human Egg Freezing to Patients who wish to preserve their fertility potential.

Dear Colleague,

The New England Fertility Institute (NEFI) is expanding its services to include human egg freezing for patients who may need to preserve their eggs for later use.

Individuals and couples who quality for this service include:

• Women undergoing cancer treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy or surgery that could limit future reproductive potential.
• Couples undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures that are concerned about producing an excess number of embryos due to ethical or religious reasons.
• Women who are concerned about the age related decline in their fertility potential that are not ready to conceive.

Even though freezing of sperm and embryos has become standard, until recently egg freezing yielded very low success. Improvements in technology has made this procedure available. Using the latest technology the embryology team at NEFI led by Marilou Frank, Msc. have demonstrated excellent survival, fertilization and embryo development of frozen eggs. Due to the limited experience with approximately 300 live births worldwide, the procedure is still considered experimental.

NEFI has therefore applied and received an approval from Western Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the use of egg freezing or cryopreservation techniques in a controlled study environment. The IRB process involves an independent review of the study design and provides monitoring of the consent procedures as well as the outcomes of the project.

“The NEFI team strives to remain in the forefront of reproductive technology. The development of an egg freezing program is part of our commitment to provide the complete range of fertility services” Says Gad Lavy, M.D. Medical director of NEFI.

NEFI has recently joined a team of IVF scientists and fertility clinics led by world-renowned embryologist Dr. Jeaque Cohen. The purpose of this network is to sponsor ongoing research in the fertility field. This project is a first of many to take advantage of this collaboration and bring the latest technology to our patients.

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