Frozen Egg Bank Network Launches New Clinic Quality Control Concept

"There are many doctors who will offer to freeze a woman's eggs, but very few have made babies from them", explains CEO Heidi Hayes. "At the Frozen Egg Bank Network, we only work with elite clinics that have significant experience freezing and thawing eggs."

This unique "Seal of Quality Assurance" program is an outgrowth of the Frozen Egg Bank Network's parent company, Donor Egg Bank USA, which works with over 40 top-tier clinics across the country. Embryologists in the network have passed a rigorous set of requirements, have collectively frozen and thawed 30,000 donor eggs, and have achieved a 50 percent clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer.

"We have experience sourcing industry leaders to help women conceive with donated eggs. It seemed like a great opportunity to use our vast learning curve to help women freeze their own eggs to use later when they're ready," says Hayes.

As egg freezing technology improved, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine declared the procedure no longer  "experimental" in 2012 and cited studies showing frozen eggs could be as effective as fresh eggs for use in in-vitro fertilization. The advance responsible for such success rates is called "vitrification", a procedure in which eggs are frozen so quickly they have a better chance of surviving undamaged years later. Embryologists participating in the Frozen Egg Bank Network must achieve and maintain an 80 percent or greater egg survival rate. Participating clinics and embryologists must be recertified four times a year.

The number of women freezing their eggs in the U.S. has grown more than seven times in the last five years - from 500 cycles in 2009 to nearly 6,186 cycles in 2014, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which collects data from fertility clinics for the Centers for Disease Control.

The Frozen Egg Bank Network offers competitive pricing for single cycles or multi-cycle packages called INVEST20 or INVEST30 that allow patients to bank 20 or 30 eggs to maximize the likelihood of a future pregnancy. Financing is available.

"We want as many women as possible to have the chance to protect their fertility now so they can maximize the likelihood of having a healthy baby later," adds Hayes.