The technology to successfully freeze and thaw donor sperm for infertile couples has been available for decades. However, the technology to successfully freeze women's eggs did not exist until recently, prompting Cryo Eggs International (CEI) to open its doors and offer donor eggs to infertile patients who wish to create the family they have been longing for. Women select a familial "match" from the donor eggs in the bank, and the eggs are shipped anywhere in the world to be thawed, fertilized and transferred as an embryo to the waiting woman who wishes to experience the pregnancy and birth of her baby.
"We're very happy this technology was available," Wendy Kennedy said Sunday morning, a day after the birth of their daughter. "If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have Avery. She's beautiful."
The first frozen donor egg bank was formed based on new egg freezing technology developed by Jeffrey Boldt, PhD, Scientific Director for CEI.
The pregnancy rates with donor eggs are beginning to show success rates equivalent to pregnancy rates using eggs before freezing. Donor eggs which have not been frozen are commonly used in infertility therapy worldwide. In the US alone, in 2001, over 12,000 women tried to conceive with donor eggs. There are many reasons for infertility, but the most common problem for women over age 35 is that their eggs do not perform well enough to achieve pregnancy.
The first frozen egg bank will offer women the opportunity to better manage their own infertility, which is often a daunting and difficult path.
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Contact: Diana Thomas
602-448-4008
University of Kentucky
3-Jan-2006