The U.S. is in the midst of a prominent decline in child birth rates. Look: Ten years ago, the typical American woman had about 2.1 children. Today, she has about 1.77 – a decline in fertility being felt across the country. Bottom Line: Infertility is a challenge facing American women that needs more attention and awareness from society as well as the government. While infertility is rampant in the U.S., there’s still no government support to fund costly fertility treatments – such as IVF – opines Dr. John Zhang in a recent Fortune Magazine article addressing the crisis.
Ninety percent of couples who need IVF give up because it is costly and they don’t have an insurance company who covers the treatment, says Dr. Zhang. IVF treatments cost an average of $12,000 with the added expense of fertility medications ranging between $3,000 and $5,000.
According to Dr. Zhang, the U.S. Government still considers IVF to be an experimental procedure, even though millions of babies have been born using this phenomenal Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). All research and clinical trials have been privately funded since the first IVF baby was born in the U.S. in 1981.
Dr. Zhang promotes awareness of female fertility preservation beyond just a funding perspective. The Doctor envisions a future where all American women take proactive steps to preserve their fertility. Ladies ages 25 to 35 should freeze their eggs if they don’t have plans to have a family in the next five to ten years, opines Dr. Zhang.
Over one million babies have been born using Cutting-Edge ART fertility treatments in the U.S. As of 2015, approximately 68,000 babies were born using IVF or other ART fertility treatments – an overall success rate of 32 percent.
At New Hope Fertility Center, we provide all-encompassing cryopreservation techniques for protecting the fertility of both women and men.
In 2018, an estimated 76,000 women in the United States will freeze their eggs to preserve their future fertility. Frozen Eggs: At New Hope Fertility Center, we have achieved over 6,500 live births from frozen eggs. This fertility preservation method will increase the odds of these women conceiving later in life at a time of they choose to start building their family. New Hope Fertility Center’s Division of Fertility Preservation has compiled an easy guide help women to learn more about the benefits of egg freezing. Egg freezing is becoming the preferred fertility preservation option women are choosing today because it avoids the future anticipated cost and physical challenges of multiple IVF cycles.
Through IVF, a woman’s natural egg production is stimulated with fertility drugs into producing several eggs – 10 to 15 typically per cycle. These eggs are then surgically retrieved and cryopreserved using an advanced technique known as vitrification. Vitrification is a flash-freezing method preventing the formation of ice crystals between the cells forming an egg. Ice crystals can damage an egg’s cells.
By surgically retrieving eggs, fertilizing them in vitro (in a laboratory setting), and then freezing the resulting high quality embryos, a couple can increase their chances of conceiving a child biologically related to both the mother and father.
<h3.Ovarian Tissue Transplant,/h3.
The outer membrane of an ovary is where a woman’s eggs are located. Ovarian tissue freezing is accomplished in an outpatient surgical procedure by removing a thin piece of the outer membrane of one of the woman’s ovary – the preserved ovary. This ovarian tissue is cryopreserved for later transplant to the woman’s other ovary – the non-preserved ovary.
It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the expertise to design a customized fertility preservation treatment plan meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – click the icon below or call 917.525.5496.