BostonIVF - The Arizona Center- Fertility Preservation

synthetic hormones to stimulate your ovaries in order to collect multiple eggs during a menstrual cycle, as well as an outpatient surgical procedure to retrieve the eggs. Other, more experimental therapies include freezing ovarian tissue (ovarian cryopreservation) by surgically removing it, freezing and reimplanting later, as well as ovarian suppression before cancer therapy, in which hormonal therapies are used to suppress ovarian function and protect eggs during cancer treatment.

Are Fertility Preservation Methods Successful?
Embryo freezing is the most successful technique; however a newer process called vitrification has improve egg freezing dramatically. There are now more than 1,000 "frozen egg babies" born worldwide. Ovarian tissue freezing has produced approximately 15 children. The success rates of ovarian suppression treatments are unknown because there are no randomized trials that demonstrate its effectiveness.

How Do I Pay for Fertility Preservation?

BostonIVF - The Arizona Center has partnered with Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy and Ferring's h.e.a.r.t.b.e.a.t. Preservation Program which provides eligible patients newly diagnosed with cancer access to select Ferring fertility medications at no cost. CLICK HERE or the Ferring banner above for more information.

Fertility preservation techniques such as ovarian tissue preservation, egg freezing or embryo freezing can cost between $8,000 to 12,000 and will probably not be covered by insurance companies. Still, fertility preservation advocates recommend that cancer patients have their fertility doctors code and submit their treatment as cancer treatment. Ovarian suppression methods are less expensive and may be covered by insurance if they are administered in the oncologist’s office. There are organizations such as Fertile Action and Fertile Hope that can help patients with discounts and/or financial support for fertility preservation.

Fertility Preservation

Is Fertility Preservation right for me?

All women start to lose their fertility from their mid-20's. It's called the "biological clock," and it looms over every woman who desires to have a family. For some women, today is not the right time to have a baby. Education, career issues, family and financial interests or personal accomplishments are some of the reasons women may not want to get pregnant now. However, as a woman ages, there is an increased risk of genetic diseases or the inability to have a baby. Egg freezing allows women to age, as their eggs remain young, thus avoiding the significan risk of genetic disorders.

Another group of women who will want to consider fertility preservation are those facing chemotherapy and certain gynecologic cancer surgeries. Egg freezing is a quick process that should not interfere with the timing of surgery and/or chemotherapy and will preserve your healthy eggs for when you are ready to start a family. If you are about to start cancer treatment, call us for a consultation

"I was diagnosed with Leukemia when I was 16 years old and it was heartbreaking. The process

of looking for a bone marrow match to be able to have a transplant was difficult, but I

recently at 21 years old found a match!

I was so excited and overjoyed at the thought of finally having a cure. When I found out that

after the high dose chemotherapy and transplant process there was a chance I might not be

able to have children, I was devastated.

My doctors referred me here and I was nervous to get the process

of egg freezing started. To my surprise, the staff was AMAZING! This process was so easy

and they made me feel so comfortable andwere there with me every step of the way to comfort me and answer any questions that I had.

I am so thankful for this amazing team and this amazing clinic. For anyone that is hesitant to start this process, I ask and urge you to cal and meet with these fantastic doctors."

Lauren Anderson, 21 years old

Cancer Survivor

What Techniques Are Available to Preserve My Fertility?
There are various options for fertility preservation. If you a woman who is married or has a partner, you may choose to freeze embryos (embryo cryopreservation). If you are single, you may want to freeze your eggs (oocyte cryopreservation) or use donor sperm to freeze embryos. Both of these techniques require daily injections of