As women wait longer to find a life partner and start a family, the concept of freezing eggs is coming up more and more frequently. Age isn’t the only trigger; women diagnosed with cancer also want to preserve their eggs in case their fertility is diminished by the cancer treatment.
Growing from this need is an entire industry—Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)—and today more than 440 clinics across the U.S. provide ART services, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Pacific Fertility, a leading company in egg freezing technology, urges women not to be flippant about making this life decision. When you’re looking for a facility, the professionals at Pacific Fertility recommend that you ask:
- What is the ideal age to freeze eggs?
- How many should I freeze?
- Is there a way to determine the quality of the eggs?
- Is there a “shelf life” on the eggs—do they expire?
- Where are the eggs stored?
- What is the cost?
One tool you can use to identify clinics providing ART services is the CDC’s annual Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Clinic Success Rates Report. Offering in-depth descriptions of the ART procedures and data on the outcomes, the report goes into detail about success rates and specific information on each clinic.
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