Hopefully you all had a chance to see the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet on Wednesday April 23rd. I was part of the segment on egg freezing that featured patients, doctors, a reproductive psychologist and a bioethicist. My patient, Katia Naman, kindly shared her personal experience of egg freezing.
I thought some important points were brought out on the show such as the experimental nature of egg freezing and the need for careful consideration by each patient prior to embarking on a cycle of egg freezing. I also agree that psychological support for those women experiencing significant life stressors should also be part of a treatment plan. We have incorporated such support into our Mind-Body-Wellness program at the Egg Freezing Center.
I was disappointed about the misinformation presented by the bioethicist. I applauded the show’s producer for inviting a bioethicist, and hoped he would point out the importance of appropriate informed consent and truthful disclosure by fertility doctors about the risks and benefits of this new technology. Instead, he painted a picture of fear, laden with inaccuracies and ignored a woman’s right to make her own informed decision – the cornerstone of bioethics. At one point he questioned my statement that there had been over 2000 papers published in the past 50 years on egg freezing and further questioned the existence of 500 babies born from egg freezing. Perhaps he should use PUBMED to search “oocyte cryopreservation” to better inform himself of the facts.
Good decisions are made when patients partner with experts in the field who have demonstrable success. I have personally conducted 50 cycles of egg freezing at no cost to patients in order to assure myself of the technology. Thus far, we have 22 babies born with another 13 on the way from frozen eggs. Our ongoing clinical trial of vitrification, a new, rapid-freeze method of egg freezing, is especially exciting with six of the first 8 women already pregnant.
I hope the show will empower women to seek information on egg freezing in order to determine if this option is best for them. Although egg freezing is experimental and carries no guarantee of a pregnancy, I believe the person most qualified to make the decision is the informed patient.
