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14 Questions to Ask When Selecting an Egg Freezing Center

We've discussed our concerns over the commercialization of social or elective egg freezing in the last few years. A few patients have contacted us since then, looking for advice on how to select the best egg freezing center where their chance of success is the highest. So, here's a list of 14 questions you should ask fertility centers, as well as yourself, when selecting where to freeze your eggs:

  1. Are you being sold a service or are you offered solid medical advice? If you feel you are talking to a sales man rather than a doctor, stay away!
  2. Do you feel you are in a medical facility or in a store? If it is the latter, move on!
  3. Do you trust the information you receive? If you have doubts, get a 2nd opinion. This is a medical procedure you are talking about!
  4. Have you been told what alternatives there are to egg freezing? If not, find a place that does explain to you all the options you have.
  5. Are you getting your information from a fertility specialist (physicians) or a non-physician representative? Make sure you speak to a physician; again, egg freezing is a complex medical procedure; it’s not buying another pair of shoes!
  6. Have you been advised that you will have to undergo more than one egg retrieval cycle? If not, look elsewhere because it is almost impossible to obtain enough eggs in a single cycle to give you a decent pregnancy chance in the future.
  7. Have you been asked how many children you are planning for? If not, don’t even bother; the person you are talking to either does not really care or, simply, does not have the knowledge.
  8. Are they getting a detailed medical history from you, and are they doing some testing on you before starting you in a cycle? Hopefully they do both because without a proper medical history and information on how well your ovaries are performing for your age, nobody can devise the best stimulation for your ovaries.
  9. Is the center a full-service IVF center? If not, be skeptical because how will they know the best ovarian stimulation protocol for you? How will they perform quality control on their embryology lab if they never make embryos from eggs, whether fresh or frozen?
  10. Does the center store your eggs on its own premises? If not, why not? Where do eggs go for long-term storage? How are the transports assured and secured? And ask yourself: Do you feel comfortable constantly moving your frozen eggs around, with all its associated risks?
  11. Can the center fertilize your eggs and make embryos or do your eggs again have to be shipped elsewhere? Why would anybody want their eggs to be constantly shipped around, from an egg freezing center to a storage facility, then again to an IVF center? A place that freezes eggs but cannot fertilize them for you, should probably be avoided.
  12. Does the center know their “egg-thawing rate”? Somewhere between 80-95% of mature eggs should survive freezing and thawing. If the center does not know their rate, or it falls below these numbers, go elsewhere!
  13. How do the facilities look? Look around, and ask to see the procedure area where egg retrievals are done. If you don’t like what you see, why would you stay?
  14. What are the ultimate costs for all the eggs you want to collect and freeze? Don’t be shy in asking, and compare!

This is a part of the May 2018 CHR VOICE.

Norbert Gleicher, MD

Norbert Gleicher, MD, FACOG, FACS

Norbert Gleicher, MD, leads CHR’s clinical and research efforts as Medical Director and Chief Scientist. A world-renowned specialist in reproductive endocrinology, Dr. Gleicher has published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers and lectured globally while keeping an active clinical career focused on ovarian aging, immunological issues and other difficult cases of infertility.

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