Egg Freezing

Main Line Fertility is unveiling a new technique for freezing human eggs (or oocytes).  This procedure, called vitrification appears to significantly improve the outcome when compared to existing freezing techniques.

Vitrification uses a combination of a high concentration of cryoprotectants along with ultra rapid freezing rates to protect the delicate cell structure of the unfertilized egg.  Using this technique Main Line Fertility has achieved five ongoing pregnancies, press release here. Main Line Fertility does have IRB (institutional review board) approval to continue this ground breaking research.

Egg freezing will have several important applications when it is accepted as a routine fertility treatment.  Egg freezing will allow women who will undergo chemotherapy the ability preserve eggs for the creation of a family in the future.  Similarly, young single women may be able to save eggs for the future when the timing may seem more right to them.  Furthermore, couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization will no longer be compelled to expose large number of eggs to sperm, risking the creation of more embryos then will ever be needed.  Freezing eggs will save the couples a tough choice of having to donate or dispose of left over embryos.          

Finally, frozen eggs may be incorporated into donor egg programs, allowing for equitable and predictable egg numbers to be offered to women needing donor egg.