Fertility Preservation and Family Planning

In this day and age with more women waiting later in life to start their family and focusing on education and job advancement before starting their family, women are finding it may be “too late” to attempt pregnancy when they are ready.

Unlike men who produce new sperm every day, women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have. Thus, many women feel their biological clock ticking with every passing month. There are times when women may consider fertility preservation if they have chosen to postpone or delay becoming a parent. At DIRM, we offer multiple options and services to help patients preserve their fertility, giving them the best chance possible of having a baby when they are ready.

Advances in Reproductive Medicine and Infertility now allow women the opportunity to delay starting their family until a more appropriate time, or the “right time.” The “right time” may mean the right partner, the right time in your career, or the right state of mind or health.

Egg Freezing for Fertility Preservation and Family Planning

The simple process of aging also takes its toll on a woman’s ovaries, and eventually will render a woman infertile. There is a solution to the problem of the “ticking biological clock” and it is called Egg Freezing, which utilizes a cryopreservation technique called vitrification. Vitrification is a very simple freezing procedure performed in the laboratory in which the eggs are cooled at an extremely rapid rate before storage and may be thawed for later use to initiate a pregnancy.

Egg freezing by vitrification allows women the chance to have their genetic child when they are ready to conceive with a previously stored egg kept on ice.

If you decide that egg freezing is right for you, please contact us to discuss how to proceed with collecting and freezing your eggs. Our experienced and dedicated IVF team will guide you through the process of stimulating your ovaries to produce eggs and retrieval of the eggs. We will also discuss with you how to proceed when you are ready for pregnancy.

Fertility Preservation before Cancer Treatment

Medical treatments such as chemotherapy may damage eggs, or render a woman completely infertile. Dr. Russell has been a leader in the field of reproductive endocrinology for over twenty-five years. He and his experienced staff understand the urgency and emotional stress involved with the treatment of cancer, as well as the concern over the potential loss of future fertility.

Freezing a woman’s eggs (vitrification) or embryos allows her the opportunity to have a genetic child in the future. Male patients wanting to preserve their fertility may collect several sperm specimens prior to treatment.

To determine if you are appropriate for egg or sperm freezing prior to your treatment, contact us immediately to schedule a free initial consultation with Dr. Russell or Katie Haigh, his Nurse Practitoner. You will also need to inform your oncologist of your desire to proceed with fertility preservation after stimulation of your ovaries.

Please feel free to contact our dedicated and knowledgeable staff today about your future family building goals and preserving your future fertility and how we may assist you in making this dream through science become a reality.