The Nightmare: Being told that you have cancer can be one of the scariest diagnoses a patient will ever receive. Young patients that haven’t had the opportunity start a family may fear losing their ability to one day have children. Although chemotherapy and radiation can be life saving, they may also cause difficulties becoming pregnant when a patient wishes to start her family.
The Story: Brie is 23 years old and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 3 weeks before her first visit with West Coast Fertility Centers (WCFC). She wished to learn more about our egg freezing process and was interested in preserving her eggs prior to starting chemotherapy.
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| Hear Brie's Story on YouTube |
The Solution: Since Brie was due to start her chemotherapy later in the month, she decided to proceed with her stimulation protocol immediately. During her frequent visits to WCFC, she was truly a delightful patient and our staff developed a great deal of respect for this courageous young patient. She persevered through 14 days of injectable fertility medication with remarkable good humor. Ultrasounds and blood tests were performed to assess her follicle development.
During this period, there was ongoing communication to and from her oncologist to assure her cancer treatment was not compromised. On the day of her egg harvest, 13 eggs were retrieved and of these eggs, 11 were mature enough to freeze. Although Brie has a long road ahead of her, she was able to start chemotherapy knowing that her ability to one day have children is not compromised.
West Coast Fertility Centers offer egg freezing services to patients who have unfortunately been diagnosed with cancer. WCFC helps by reducing some of the costs while working closely with Fertile Hope (affiliated with Lance Armstrong Foundation), a non-profit organization that offers emotional support to cancer patients. Our industry partner, EMD Serono, provides free medications to our patients. This helps make egg freezing more affordable to these patients whose medical treatments may pose a risk of infertility.
The Events: On September 1st, 2010, West Coast Fertility Centers will sponsor a unique educational seminar to educate and empower women on the topic of preserving their fertility. Whether for medical reasons or personal choice, women can learn how to liberate themselves from the biologic clock.
Seating is limited and reservations are strongly recommended. To secure your place at this life changing event on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 from 6-8 PM at our West Coast Fertility location in Fountain Valley, please contact us directly at 714-513-1399.
Dr. David Diaz will also host an informative webinar on Egg Freezing on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 5 PM (PST). Please register for the webinar directly online by clicking here.
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| The Incredible Science of Egg Freezing |
To help women preserve their eggs when they are healthy and robust, the laboratories of West Coast Fertility Centers (WCFC) have refined the technique of shielding the eggs from the effects of freezing. A unique set of freezing fluids, known as the Landa Freezing Technology, was developed over the past ten years, giving women the option of harvesting and storing their eggs indefinitely.
David Diaz, MD, FACOG, a fertility expert with 22 years experience, will explain how to determine who is a candidate for egg freezing; how patients are selected and a brief overview of the egg freezing technique at WCFC. Dr. Diaz and the members of his team will lead the discussion with visual presentations and the opportunity to meet a patient who had a healthy baby after egg freezing. A private tour of the surgical suite and accredited laboratories at WCFC will also be given.
Those who may benefit from egg freezing include:
- young, single women diagnosed with cancer that can preserve their eggs from chemotherapy and radiation
- young women who wish to preserve their fertile eggs until they are ready to start their family
- women undergoing IVF who prefer to freeze unfertilized eggs versus embryos for ethical reasons
- women whose only option for pregnancy is with young healthy donor eggs stored at the Frozen Egg Bank
The Egg Freezing Program at WCFC has resulted in the births of 54 healthy babies, more than any program in the Western United States. Eight additional pregnancies are also on-going as of August 2010.
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