Novel Egg Freezing Technique Opens The Door

Vitrification is a novel technique for
freezing human eggs (also referred to as oocytes), which is opening the
door to long-term human egg storage. Traditional methods of human egg
cryopreservation have met with limited success. The scientific team at
Georgia Reproductive Specialists (GRS), who were responsible for the first
frozen human egg births in North America in 1997, have successfully
implemented the new technique of vitrification and celebrate the birth this
month of the newest baby born as a result of this technique.


It is GRS' intention to be able to offer egg freezing (oocyte
cryopreservation) as a viable solution for women desiring to preserve their
eggs for future use. Some of the potential applications of egg freezing are
as follows:


- Egg banking for women wishing to preserve their fertility
following cancer therapy


- Egg banking for women delaying pregnancy


- Establishment of a donor egg bank


- Rescue of excess eggs from an unexpectedly strong stimulation of the
ovaries during an Artificial Insemination (Intrauterine Insemination -
IUI) treatment cycle


Currently GRS has research programs in the last two areas; and the
latest "frozen egg baby" arrived as a result of the rescue of excess eggs,
which would have otherwise been discarded in an IUI cycle. Had these eggs
been allowed to remain in the ovaries during the IUI cycle, the woman would
have run an extremely high risk of conceiving with a multiple pregnancy
potentially endangering both her and her babies.


Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, painful ovarian enlargement, is
another potential complication that may result from an overly vigorous
response to ovulation medications. While traditionally this leads to
canceling the treatment cycle or converting to standard IVF, GRS' approach
allows both a safe attempt at pregnancy within the IUI cycle and, if the
pregnancy does not occur, then the woman is able to use her "rescued"
frozen eggs to attempt pregnancy with routine in vitro fertilization.


On June 5th, the first such reported use of this exciting technology
established a clear approach for the use of egg freezing to reduce the
costs and risks involved in modern reproductive medicine.


Georgia Reproductive Specialists (GRS) applies medical science's most
advanced fertility technologies to provide the highest standards of
patient- centered, reproductive healthcare. The staff at GRS, including
infertility laboratory pioneer Michael Tucker, Ph.D., is focused on
providing individualized, innovative solutions for reproductive challenges
and infertility, specializing in in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic
sperm injection and other assisted reproductive technologies.


Fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologists Dr. Susan C. Conway, Dr.
Carolyn Kaplan and Dr. Mark Perloe are experts in female and male disorders
including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), repeated pregnancy loss,
menstrual disorders and azoospermia. GRS has three offices, Atlanta,
Alpharetta and Decatur, to conveniently serve patients across Metro
Atlanta. For more information about Georgia Reproductive Specialists, visit
ivf.


Georgia Reproductive Specialists

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