Not necessarily, and at Spring, there’s no such thing as “most people”. While we work with proven protocols, everyone is an individual and each treatment plan is customized to each patient. In order to determine which treatment options are right for you, we’ll conduct a thorough review of your medical history and assessment of both partners to evaluate what’s happening. Then we’ll form a plan to move forward. To get started, book a consult.
PGT-A allows patients the highest chance of success (a live birth) with each embryo transfer. Regardless of age, a chromosomally normal embryo has about a 50% chance of live birth. This allows us greater confidence with each embryo transfer such that most patients transfer only one embryo at a time. Keep in mind that while PGT-A helps us more easily identify the healthiest embryos to transfer (resulting in a higher live birth rate per transfer), it does not increase the chances overall.
The Pros: Highest implantation and live birth rate per transfer, fewer miscarriages, and you are less likely to experience (and pay for) an unsuccessful embryo transfer.
The Cons: Higher upfront cost in order to perform the procedure on the embryos and genetic analysis on sampled cells. And although this procedure is considered safe and effective, the test is about 90% accurate: 4% of cases will result in a "False Positive" (calling a potentially normal embryo "abnormal"), about 4% in a "False Negative" (embryos are determined to be "normal" but later miscarry and are found to have an abnormal chromosome complement), and approximately 2% of the time we do not get sufficient amplification of DNA for the scientists to make a determination on your embryo.
Lastly, it’s important to understand that with PGT-A, it’s possible that you will not have any normal embryos to transfer. Although this is very disappointing to experience, it also means that you did not have to endure a transfer that resulted in a miscarriage, with the associated pain and lost time before a successful transfer.
We take enormous pride in delivering the highest chances of successful IVF, anywhere. Your success will depend greatly on your age at the time your eggs are retrieved. Nationally, women under 35 have nearly 50% success rates, while women over 42 have a 5% chance of success with each attempt using her own eggs. As women age, the number of eggs available declines and the miscarriage risk increases due to ovarian aging, making it harder to conceive. Many women require multiple attempts with IVF. Our job is to help you achieve a live birth in as few attempts as possible. Although aging is the biggest predictor of success, this is due to the age of the eggs and not the uterus. Success rates with donor eggs are over 50% per attempt and depend on the fertility and age of the egg donor.
Normally, one egg matures each month, but when we stimulate the ovaries for IVF or ICSI, we attempt to mature multiple eggs for fertilization. In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves removing eggs from the ovaries and fertilizing them outside of the body (“in vitro”). With conventional IVF, many sperm are placed in a dish with a healthy egg, whereas with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a single sperm is carefully injected directly into each egg.
Ovarian stimulation usually requires 10-14 days of hormonal stimulation and monitoring before the eggs are retrieved. Once the eggs are in our care, we need to consider several key steps:
Based on your history, assessment, and goals, we’ll help you navigate several steps and decision points depending on your particular situation and requirements.
“I was 34 when I decided to be a single mom by choice. Who knew I could create my own love of my life.” -- Regina
Want to build a family on your own? Congratulations on making this choice. It may take a village to raise a child, but not to make one. We’re here to help.
Here’s what it takes:
Whatever your needs, we can help. We’ll work with you to assess any obstacles, plan your family and secure appropriate donor sperm, eggs or gestational carriers from our network of stellar agencies.
Let’s find a plan that works for you.
Single Moms by Choice and Choice Moms are two excellent community groups that support women seeking to have a family on their own.
There are many causes of infertility. For a successful pregnancy to occur: A healthy egg needs to be meet healthy sperm, fertilize, develop and find a good place to grow (a receptive uterus).
Problems at any of these steps can cause difficulties in getting pregnant:
It’s important to note that 30-40% of infertility cases are due to male factors. We need enough motile, swimming sperm to fertilize an egg. A “normal” ejaculate has over 18 million motile (swimming) sperm. Some men produce fewer or no sperm. Other men produce plenty of sperm but have obstructions in their tubes (the vas deferens), preventing sperm from being released. Just because a semen sample appears normal, doesn’t mean that there are sufficient numbers of sperm inside. We need to check with a microscope.
A woman’s ovarian reserve is directly related to age and potential to produce multiple eggs with ovarian stimulation. Ovarian reserve, or egg supply, begins to gradually decline beginning at the age of 30. The amount of medication required to stimulate the ovaries will increase and the number of follicles and eggs produced from the ovaries declines. These factors lower a woman’s chances of pregnancy with our best treatments. Several tests are used to determine a woman’s fertility potential, including blood tests such as Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH), FSH and Estradiol and a pelvic ultrasound to evaluate Antral Follicle Count.
Normal ovulation requires a well-choreographed interplay of numerous hormonal events involving the brain, pituitary gland and ovaries. Stress, medical conditions and other events can throw these off and cause hormone imbalances that affect ovulation. If you are not ovulating every month, we will need to screen for conditions like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Hyperprolactinemia, Thyroid Problems, as well as other less common conditions. In order to evaluate your case, we may test for additional hormones.
The long answer is that the optimal number to ensure a single healthy pregnancy varies by age, reproductive history (have you been pregnant before?), and other factors that could make it easier or harder to get pregnant in the future.
The short answer: we recommend having at least 20 mature eggs frozen before your 37th birthday. Why? The largest study to date looking at the average number of mature eggs needed per live birth in patients using IVF suggested that 20 eggs were needed, up until age 37. Beyond age 37 the number was higher (about 40 eggs per baby at age 40 and 60 eggs by age 42). These numbers correlate very well with the national IVF success rates in the United States, as reported by the CDC.
Although there are several molecular tests of uterine receptiveness, most current tests are not very predictive. The most important tool right now is to make sure the uterus is free of any lesions like polyps or fibroids. This is best done by either a Sonohysterogram, also known as a Saline Infusion Sonogram (SIS) or hysteroscopy. Occasionally, an endometrial biopsy can be performed to rule out chronic infections, or to perform experimental molecular testing.
For men, the evaluation is even simpler. We perform a Semen Analysis to see if there are enough motile (swimming) sperm to reach and fertilize an egg. Low or absent sperm counts can be due to problems producing sperm or in a blockage preventing the sperm from being released. Appearing to ejaculate normally does not mean there are enough quality sperm being emitted.
The basic male evaluation can be addressed with two key questions:
Do you produce a sufficient number of “swimming” sperm to total sperm?
Fertile men typically produce tens of millions of sperm per ejaculate. It’s not enough to produce sperm; the job isn’t done until they reach the egg and fertilize it. Unfortunately, it’s a long journey, and therefore nature provides millions of sperm in the hope that one is able to make it to the egg, attach and fertilize.
Are the sperm able to leave your body?
Just as women have tubes that can be blocked (the fallopian tubes), the same is also true with men. The vas deferens is the tube that carries sperm from the testes to the penis. Sometimes these tubes can be blocked or congenitally absent. With an obstructed vas deferens, a man’s ejaculation may appear normal but lack sperm.
We evaluate sperm with a Semen Analysis, which tests the percent motility, or the number of sperm per ejaculation. We also examine direction and speed, shape, and other factors that can give your doctors insight into your ability to conceive without assistance.
The typical fertility assessment of both partners can be completed within a month (or one menstrual cycle) of an initial consult.
With Spring Fertility, you can know what’s happening in just one day. With our Same Day 360° Comprehensive Evaluation & Action Plan, you and your partner can come in to complete an initial consult, evaluation, and review of treatment options in a single day. By the end of the day, you’ll know your options and probability for success. You’ll leave equipped with a personalized roadmap and treatment plan.
How can we do that? We are one of only a handful of clinics across the country to offer everything onsite, including HSG, AMH testing, and semen analysis. Doing so allows us to shorten your wait for results. We know your time is important, so we’ve designed our workflow around your needs.
The IVF process is a series of steps that we’ll help you understand so you know exactly what to expect. Typically, the first 8-12 days encompass ovarian stimulation leading up to the egg retrieval. The egg retrieval coincides with preparing sperm for fertilization.
Then, depending on your situation, we’ll decide on what’s best for next steps:
Fertilization: Conventional IVF or ICSI?
When to plan your transfer: How long should we care for your embryos before transferring or freezing them? 2-3 or 5-6 days?
Embryo Transfer: Fresh or frozen? If frozen, do we transfer them in the future using a controlled or natural cycle?
Genetic testing: Do we test your embryos before transferring them?
We can help you decide what to do for each step based on your unique case and requirements.
Women under 35 have a 2 in 3 chance of having chromosomally normal blastocyst, so would need about 3 blastocyst stage embryos (on average) per live birth. As women age, the chances of having a chromosomally normal blastocyst decline.
At 40, women have a 1 in 3 chance of having a chromosomally normal embryo at the blastocyst stage, so would need about 6 blastocysts for a successful pregnancy. At 42, women have a 1 in 4 chance of having a chromosomally normal blastocyst, so might need about 8 blastocyst stage embryos (on average) per live birth. Women over 42 years have a 1 in 5-6 chance of finding a chromosomally normal embryo. This is why many women over 42 are using donor eggs, unless they froze their own eggs earlier.
For women using donor eggs, the chances of a successful pregnancy depends on the age of the donor. Since most donors are in their 20’s, far fewer embryos will be required per live birth.
Please don’t despair! Although the numbers above may seem discouraging, everyone is an individual and we have patients that beat the odds and have successful outcomes with a 2% chance. The above numbers are to give you a sense of overall probability. Please discuss your case with your doctor to get more individualized answers.
You do not need to transfer every embryo. After you transfer your desired and recommended embryo(s) we can cryopreserve any additional embryos with the potential for implanting. These are saved for a future pregnancy or if this attempt isn’t successful. Embryologists have been cryopreserving embryos since the 1980s. Today, embryo survival is better than 98% and many studies have shown the outcomes with frozen embryo transfers to be as good or better than with fresh embryos. See how we prepare your embryo for transfer:
Several recent studies have been published that suggest frozen embryos may have higher pregnancy and live birth rates and may even have better live birth outcomes. Our interpretation: For some patients a frozen embryo transfer is going to be safer and result in a higher pregnancy rate. However, not all patients benefit from this approach so we do not recommend freezing all embryos to every patient. We believe we can identify the patients who will benefit from a “freeze all” approach and frozen embryo transfer during their monitoring. In these cases, we recommend cryopreserving all of your embryos without transferring them in order to increase your chance of a successful and healthy pregnancy.
Reasons we might cryopreserve without transferring an embryo:
Elevated early progesterone. The uterus has a “window of receptivity” when it will allow a good embryo to implant. Before and after that window, even a good embryo won’t be successful. Sometimes, the elevated hormone levels seen with ovarian stimulation can “confuse” the uterus into thinking the embryo will be arriving before it is ready. By the time the embryos arrive, the uterus is not receptive to implantation. So, instead of transferring a good embryo into a uterus that is no longer “receptive,” we’ll wait and use a frozen embryo when the timing is better.
New concerns about the uterine lining. Rarely, we detect a new polyp or bleeding that was missed before starting the IVF process.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. In patients who produce many eggs and embryos, ovaries can become hyperstimulated and need time to ‘cool down’ to allow for successful implantation. This is quite rare, and although it’s disappointing to experience an unplanned delay, it usually means there’s a good chance at a successful pregnancy the next month with a frozen embryo transfer.
Patient choice. One of the most common reasons is that a patient or couple wants to create embryos to transfer later, either for medical or personal reasons.
One decision we’ll consider together is whether you’ll want to do a natural or controlled (medicated) frozen embryo transfer.
If you’ve decided to get genetic testing or are otherwise using frozen embryos, then we’ll work with you to time your transfer. Compared to a “fresh” IVF cycle with ovarian stimulation, a frozen embryo transfer is much easier. Depending on your preferences for timing and your medical history, we can do a controlled cycle or a natural cycle.
At Spring, we counsel patients who are planning for an egg retrieval when they are 45 or older that we suggest that they consider using donor eggs. We have had successful live births from women ages 44, 45 and 46 with their own eggs, and successful pregnancies have been reported above age 46. However, these chances are low and we transparently counsel and educate patients to make decisions that are right for them. We recognize that the decision to use an egg donor requires careful consideration and we are here to support you. Our primary goal is to help our patients in their journey to have a family, and we strongly believe that DNA is only one component of parenthood. An embryo must implant, develop, and spend 9 months in your womb before you deliver your baby and devote a lifetime of care. The primary determining factor of the health and happiness of your future child is your parenting 😊
If you are struggling with infertility, you may have heard of endometrial testing options, such as the ERA (endometrial receptivity analysis), CD138 for chronic subclinical endometritis, or Receptiva Dx which claims to diagnose patients with endometriosis. All these tests boast strong claims of significantly improving patients' chances of carrying a successful pregnancy. Please know that your Spring providers will always recommend any test or intervention that they think will help you be successful. While we are our patients' strongest advocates, we are also data-driven scientists. For a full breakdown on how these tests work, the validity of their claims, and to learn more about specific cases in which we may recommend, you can read more here.
Although protocols can vary, typically the process is two weeks involving:
Some patients may additionally benefit from two weeks of hormonal preparation prior to beginning stimulation. The addition of these medications helps follicles grow at the same rate to optimize the number of eggs retrieved.
The idea of giving yourself injections can be intimidating. While many people feel anxious the first or second time, hundreds of thousands of women have safely undergone hormone stimulation and find that they quickly get used to administering their own medications. Some patients have a friend or partner help with the injections. We also work with several nurses who offer home visits to administer nightly injections.
The night before, you’ll have a hearty dinner and then abstain from any food or drink after midnight. The morning of your retrieval, you’ll check in about an hour before the procedure. Your nurse will guide you over to the lab where you’ll change into a warm robe and place your belongings in a secure locker. You’ll meet the anesthesiologist and embryologist who will be caring for you and your eggs. Under their watchful eye, you’ll fall asleep under anesthesia, while our specialists aspirate your eggs using a very fine needle. 20 minutes later, you’ll awaken in our recovery area.
If a fresh semen sample is used, your partner will produce the sample while your eggs are being retrieved. Otherwise, we will thaw a frozen sample.
Our care team will be there to look after you and ply you with juice and snacks. Most patients walk out the door about 45 minutes later. Most patients take the rest of the day off to rest.
The transfer itself takes a few minutes and is not painful. The primary discomfort you may experience will likely be from having a full bladder. A full bladder will help your organs stay in the right place so our team can have the best images for transfer.
You’ll arrive early to change and get ready. There’s no anesthesia required, but we recommend Valium to minimize uterine contractions. You’ll watch us on a closed circuit television as we gently draw your embryo into a thin soft catheter for transfer. You’ll then watch by ultrasound as the embryos are returned to your uterus.
Many people find this a good time to pursue their healthiest habits. Alcohol is fine in moderation until 2-3 days before your egg retrieval but should be avoided post-transfer.
Come see us for a fertility consult. Just contact us to book and we’ll send you a questionnaire and medical records release form so we can review your file in advance of our first meeting. Your insurance may require pre-approval in order to cover the cost of the consult.
Not ready for a consult? Come for a free info session. You can meet our team, tour our facility, and get more information about fertility treatments. We’re here for any and all your questions!
We accept coverage through fertility-specific benefits providers such as Progyny and Carrot in addition to Cigna and Health Plan Services. For our patients with out-of-network benefits, we can provide all appropriate paperwork to submit claims for reimbursement directly to insurance carriers.
This depends on your specific plan. Group plans are more likely to have infertility coverage than individual plans but each case should be verified.
We accept coverage through fertility-specific benefits organizations such as Progyny and Carrot. At this time, we also work with Cigna and Health Plan Services. Additionally, we can provide all appropriate paperwork for patients with out-of-network benefits to submit claims for reimbursement directly to their insurance carrier.”
With our Same Day 360° Fertility Evaluation, you and your partner will complete an initial consult, evaluation and review of treatment options all in one day. No need to wrangle two schedules for multiple visits or come back multiple times, and no need to wait for answers. Within 4 hours, we can provide an understanding of your individual situation and what your options are.
Patients will receive:
How can we do that? We are one of only a handful of clinics across the country to offer everything onsite, including HSG, AMH testing, and semen analysis. Doing so allows us to shorten your wait for results. We know your time is important, so we’ve designed our workflow around your needs.
Want to get started? Just contact us to book your consult or 360° today.
You can also learn more about fertility treatments at one of our free monthly info sessions. Check out our events page to RSVP. Friends and loved ones welcome.
A woman’s antral follicle count (AFC) is a measure of the number of antral (or “resting”) follicles in each ovary. The AFC is performed during a transvaginal ultrasound, which usually takes about 5 minutes, and is included in every initial consultation.
Hormone tests are simple blood tests that help us understand your ovarian reserve and how hard your body is working to send signals to your ovaries to produce eggs.
A blood test done at any time during your menstrual cycle. Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is produced by the cells surrounding the follicles. It correlates well with the AFC and also with the number of eggs your body will produce with ovarian stimulation.
A hormone produced in the brain by the pituitary gland, Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) stimulates development of your antral follicles (hence its name). FSH is determined through a blood test that is performed on the second or third day of your menstrual cycle. We always test the level of another hormone, Estradiol, to tell us if the reading is accurate.
The Hysterosalpingogram is a low dose x-ray of your pelvis to determine if your fallopian tubes are open. A radio-opaque contrast or “dye” is gently instilled into the uterus so that we can see the outline of your uterine cavity and fallopian tubes. The procedure takes only a few minutes and can be performed onsite at Spring, by our fertility specialists.
A test of the sperm in a man’s ejaculate. The semen analysis tells us the concentration of sperm, how many are moving, how fast they are moving forward, and how many have a normal appearance.
Also known as a “transvaginal ultrasound”, this test allows us to view the uterus, ovaries, cervix, and fallopian tubes (which we only see if they are swollen with fluid). A small handheld transducer is gently introduced two to three inches into the vaginal canal, using a warmed gel. This typically takes about 5 minutes.
A pelvic ultrasound is performed while sterile saline is gently instilled through the cervix and into the uterus. The saline neatly outlines the inside lining of the uterus. The procedure takes about 10 minutes.
A minimally invasive procedure in which a thin camera is inserted into the vagina, to examine the cervix and inside of the uterus.
A soft, thin tube (called a “pipelle”) is inserted through the cervix and takes a small biopsy or scratch of tissue from the lining of the uterus (the endometrium). The tissue is then examined under the microscope for any signs of inflammation or infection.
Normally, one egg matures each month, but when we stimulate the ovaries for IVF or ICSI, we attempt to mature multiple eggs for fertilization. In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves removing eggs from the ovaries and fertilizing them outside of the body (“in vitro”). With conventional IVF, many sperm are placed in a dish with a healthy egg, whereas with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a single sperm is carefully injected directly into each egg. Ovarian stimulation usually requires 10-14 days of hormonal stimulation and monitoring before the eggs are retrieved. Once the eggs are in our care, we need to consider several key steps:
Based on your history, assessment, and goals, we’ll help you navigate several steps and decision points depending on your particular situation and requirements.
Did you know that 30-40% of infertility cases are solely due to a form of male factor infertility?
For men, the evaluation is simple. We need to know if there are enough motile (swimming) sperm to reach and fertilize an egg (typically we like to see at least 20 million). The test for this is a semen analysis. Low or absent sperm counts can be due to problems in producing sperm or in a blockage preventing the sperm from being released. Note: appearing to ejaculate normally does not mean there are enough quality sperm being emitted.
While the evaluation for women can be invasive and require multiple visits, the basic male evaluation can be addressed by examining two key questions:
Do you produce a sufficient number of “swimming” sperm to total sperm? Fertile men typically produce tens of millions of sperm per ejaculate. It’s not enough to produce sperm; the job isn’t done until they reach the egg and fertilize it. Unfortunately, it's a long journey, and therefore nature provides millions of sperm in the hope that one is able to make it to the egg, attach and fertilize.
We evaluate sperm count with a semen analysis, which tests the percent motility, or the number of sperm per ejaculation. We also examine direction and speed, shape, and other factors that can give your doctors insight into your ability to conceive without assistance.
Are the sperm able to leave your body? Just as women have tubes that can be blocked (the fallopian tubes), the same is also true with men. The vas deferens is the tube that carries sperm from the testes to the penis. Sometimes these tubes can be blocked or congenitally absent. With an obstructed vas deferens, a man’s semen may appear normal but lack sperm.
These procedures are included in our Same Day 360° Evaluation and Action Plan. Contact us to book your evaluation today.
In order to optimize their chance of having a successful, healthy pregnancy, many patients elect to pursue genetic testing to ensure the most successful procedure and to increase their chances of having a healthy baby. There are three types of genetic testing commonly obtained at Spring Fertility:
What it is: This is a blood test performed before undergoing treatment or trying to get pregnant. The goal is to see if you and your partner carry any recessive genetic traits that could cause severe illness in your child, if you both have the same one. There are diseases that cause death or severe disability in children with two copies of an abnormal gene, but cause no symptoms in an adult if they only have one. Many of us don’t know if we carry these traits. About 40% of our patients test positive for one and then we test their partner to see if they carry the same gene.
How it helps: Rarely, both partners carry the same recessive mutation (like cystic fibrosis). If you each carry a mutation for the same gene, we can use PGD (Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) to ensure that you do not have a child that is born sick with the disease.
What it is: This is testing performed on the embryo before transferring it in order to make sure the embryo is healthy. There are two types of preimplantation genetic testing procedures, Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). Both involve embryo sampling, where 1-5 cells of an embryo are delicately removed in order to test if the embryo is healthy. The sample is usually taken on Day 5 or day 6 of development when the embryo is called a blastocyst.
How it helps: Testing embryos can identify and prevent chromosomal abnormalities that lead to miscarriages or Downs Syndrome, or lethal mutations that cause severe illness or death in babies.
What it is: This is the most common genetic testing procedure on embryos. This is for patients without any known genetic diseases. A few cells are sampled from each embryo and tested to determine if it has 46 chromosomes (the healthy and normal number). Because we test for all 23 pairs for chromosomes, PGS is also referred to as Comprehensive Chromosome Screening. Embryos with the correct chromosome number are called “euploid.”
How it helps: The goal of PGS is to increase the chance of pregnancy with each embryo transfer and reduce the risk of miscarriage. Since PGS screened embryos have such a great chance of success, we only put back one at a time, making it most likely that patients will have one baby at a time, (rather than twins or triplets). Once we have a euploid (chromosomally normal) embryo to transfer, age is virtually eliminated as a factor for success. Although older women have fewer and sometime no chromosomally normal embryos, those that do have the same or better success rates as a young woman doing IVF. Euploid embryos have over a 50% chance of having a live birth with only a single embryo transferred. Similarly, these pregnancies have very low miscarriage rates, despite the intended mother’s age.
What it is: PGD refers to testing embryo of parents with a known genetic disease. PGD is performed in cases where one or both parents are known to carry severe mutations that can result in disease or disability in their offspring. In these cases embryos are created and tested to see if they carry the disease.
How it helps: Two parents carrying the same mutation have a 25% chance of having a severely sick baby. Instead of waiting to find out if their pregnancy is affected by an invasive procedure 14 weeks into your pregnancy, PGD allows families to make sure that only healthy embryos are transferred back to the intended mother.
Although IVF and assisted reproductive technologies have made tremendous advancements, we still rely on having sufficient numbers of healthy eggs. Sometimes we find that despite the best protocols and efforts, there are not enough good quality eggs. In these cases donor eggs (usually from a healthy woman in their 20s) have been used to help thousands of families achieve their family-building goals. Success rates with donor eggs are around 60% per attempt.
How common is it to use donor eggs?
For over 30 years, egg donation has made parenthood possible for people having difficulty conceiving. In the US alone, there are over 18,000 egg donation cycles every year, and nearly 1 in 10 babies born annually from IVF in the United States were conceived using donor eggs.
But donor eggs don’t have my DNA, is it really my baby?
Yes. While it’s true that donor eggs will have different DNA than the intended mother, your connection is no less intimate or meaningful. Carrying a pregnancy from donor eggs gives mothers the opportunity to nurture the baby for nine months in utero and have tremendous influence on how the baby’s DNA is expressed. Recent studies have shown that the time in utero can vastly influence how DNA works for the rest of one’s life. These recurring observations have led to a whole new field of epigenetics, and a field of study regarding “The Fetal Origins of Adult Disease”.
Who donates their eggs and why do they do it?
Egg donors are bright, motivated, and healthy women aged 21-30 who donate their eggs because they want to help other people have families. These women go through extensive medical, physical, and psychological screening in line with FDA guidelines. While many women apply to be egg donors each year, only 3% usually qualify.
Spring Fertility’s EggShare Program lets eligible women donate eggs while freezing some for their own future use.
How will I find the right donor?
Choosing an egg donor is a personal decision, with many factors to consider. Your timeline and goals will influence whether you turn to an egg bank for frozen eggs or a donor agency with candidates who will provide fresh eggs. We can talk you through how to navigate this and connect you with the best donors and eggs. We’ll support you every step of the way.
*If you’re interested in working with an egg donor, email our team at [email protected] to learn more
A gestational carrier is a woman who agrees to carry a baby to term for intended parents who cannot safely carry a pregnancy. An embryo is created by the intended parents through IVF and transferred to the gestational carrier.
California is one of the most favorable environments for parents who need to use a gestational carrier. We work with top agencies to help our patients identify healthy women to achieve healthy, successful pregnancies. Northern California has great health care and no Zika virus, making it a great place for women seeking this option. Email [email protected] for information. We can help.
We recommend numbers of eggs based on your age, reproductive history, ovarian reserve and family building goals. Everyone is different and your unique situation will help us arrive at an appropriate number for you, but we generally recommend 20 eggs for women under 35 and more for women over 35. For older women, this may mean multiple cycles, depending on your ovarian reserve.
What are your chances? Estimate your outcomes with this tool:
No. Most women can get pregnant naturally and their eggs become a backup plan or insurance policy. We encourage you to think about how many children you want when freezing your eggs. Although it may be easy to get pregnant naturally the first time, depending how many children you want, consider freezing eggs for that second, third or fourth child (if that’s your desired plan). You can use our egg calculator to help you plan accordingly.
Cryopreservation places cells into a “glass-like state” where all biologic processes stop by rapidly changing the temperature to -196°C using liquid nitrogen. The cell can be maintained in this state for years without aging. Your doctor will determine a protocol that’s right for you. Bioidentical hormones are used to help the ovaries produce multiple eggs from multiple follicles. These eggs are then retrieved from your body and cryopreserved a few hours later.
A woman’s age at the time an egg is released is the single most important factor affecting fertility. Beginning in your 20s, there's a gradual decline in the ability to become pregnant. Around age 35, fertility begins to decline more rapidly. Freezing your eggs gives you more options for the future by preserving your eggs (and their current quality) today.
Two factors lead to this decline: fewer and lower quality eggs.
Fewer: eggs, unlike sperm, are only produced before a baby is born. At birth, a female is born with 1-2 million eggs. These eggs are called primordial follicles and are suspended in a state of partial maturity that is not completed until ovulation (often decades later). They are gradually released over the next 50 years. Total eggs remaining in the ovaries:
At birth: ~1-2 million
At puberty: ~400-500,000
At age 35: ~25,000
Quality: While the total number of eggs available declines daily, egg quality also starts to drop as the long term effects of minor environmental damage add up. The cumulative effects of aging become apparent by your mid 30s, when eggs are more likely to produce chromosomal errors (called “aneuploidy”), leading to miscarriages and infertility.
Turns out, cryopreservation of eggs takes lots of expertise. Prior to freezing, the embryologist safely replaces all the water from an egg with cryoprotectants. Your embryologist then rapidly moves the egg cell through different solutions and then must freeze (vitrify) the eggs in 1 microliter of water (that is 1/1000 of a milliliter). The whole process is still done by hand, and the best protocols are still considered trade secrets. At Spring, we’re proud to work with the best embryologists who have the best equipment to innovate and improve existing protocols.
The best way to decide on whether and when to freeze your eggs is to have an initial consult. During this 60 minute appointment, we'll perform a pelvic ultrasound and blood test to assess your ovarian function. Then we can discuss your treatment plan. The plan we choose depends on your unique situation. We want to understand your goals and concerns, and provide the best option for you.
At Spring, we believe it’s our responsibility to provide our patients with transparent and realistic expectations as to the likelihood that freezing your eggs will result in a successful future pregnancy. The oldest reported woman to successfully freeze and warm an egg that resulted in a live birth was 42 at the time she froze her eggs. We want to leave room to “move the needle” and advance the field, so we will allow well-counseled women to freeze their eggs through age 43 (understanding that no 43 year old women have successfully frozen eggs that resulted in a live birth). For women aged 44 and up, the probability of having a baby from frozen eggs is too low and the success rate unproven, so we will not freeze eggs at this time. To get a better idea of your individual chances for success based on your age and the number of mature eggs you can expect to retrieve, you can visit our Egg Calculator.
Protocols can vary but egg freezing is typically a two week process involving:
1. 10-14 days of hormone stimulation, culminating in a final “trigger shot” 36 hours before the egg retrieval
2. Usually 5 monitoring appointments
3. The egg retrieval: a 20 minute procedure under sedation (you are asleep with an anesthesiologist present but you are not intubated or paralyzed)
Some patients may additionally benefit from two weeks of hormonal preparation prior to beginning stimulation. The addition of these medications helps follicles grow at the same rate to optimize the number of eggs retrieved.
The idea of giving yourself injections can be intimidating. While many people feel anxious the first or second time, hundreds of thousands of women have safely undergone hormone stimulation and find that they quickly get used to administering their own medications. Some patients have a friend or partner help with the injections. We also work with several nurses who offer home visits to administer nightly injections.
We’ve created medication instruction videos in case you need extra support during the process. You can browse our full library of videos here.
Alcohol is fine in moderation (1-2 drinks per day) until 2-3 days before your egg retrieval. Abstinence is fine too. Many people find this a good time to pursue their healthiest habits.
Come visit us at Spring Fertility for a consult. Just contact us to book and we’ll send you a questionnaire, so we can review your file in advance of our first meeting. Not ready for a consult? Come for a free info session. You can meet our team, tour our lab, and get more information about egg freezing. We’re here for any and all your questions!
We accept coverage through fertility-specific benefits providers such as Progyny and Carrot in addition to specific traditional commercial insurance providers, Cigna and Health Plan Services. For our patients with out-of-network benefits, we can provide all appropriate paperwork to submit claims for reimbursement directly to insurance carriers.
We believe in simple, transparent pricing. If you are self-paying in full, with no coverage:
The total costs for each patient vary based on insurance and which protocol. Medication Packages from our pharmacy partners range from $3,900-$4,900 in NY and $4,100 - $5,100 in CA, depending on your specific protocol and requirements.
Because some women require multiple cycles, we offer 10% off successive rounds of egg freezing (self pay only).
Another important financial consideration is the subsequent cost of thawing and fertilizing your eggs, then transferring embryos in the future. This is not included in the initial cost of egg freezing.
Egg Freezing Payment Plan (set up ACH when treatment initiated)
We are pleased to offer the following special payment plan on egg freezing with a no down payment and zero interest.
No Down Payment & No Interest Payment Plan (for 1 cycle) Includes ultrasound and blood monitoring, monitoring appointments, anesthesia, egg retrieval procedure, and egg freezing.
Cost =
$0 Down
$245/month
Initial consult and hormone medications not included. We’re not a pharmacy, but we do have special package deals and lower rates from our pharmacy partners.
Help a family have a family. Egg donors give the greatest gift of all: they help others achieve their dreams of a family. We’re pleased to support some amazing women willing to donate their eggs to people in need.
Qualifying applicants meet the following criteria
Donors must meet FDA and ASRM guidelines, and undergo a medical and psychological screening process with our team to ensure they’re ready. All ethnicities are welcome and encouraged to apply.
Curious if you qualify? Email [email protected] and we’ll get in touch.
Curious about egg freezing and whether it's right for you?
Come in for an egg freezing consultation, which includes:
In just one hour, you’ll know your options. Then you can decide what’s right and when’s right for you.
Book a Consult online today or call us at 415-964-5618 to schedule.
You can also learn more about egg freezing at one of our free monthly info sessions. Check out our events page to RSVP. Friends and loved ones welcome.
Not sure just yet and want to learn more? Join us for one of our free info sessions at Spring. You'll be able to meet our team, tour our facility, and learn all about how we approach egg freezing as well as the facts and data to consider in planning for your future. Bring all your questions! Friends and loved ones welcome.
Reserve your spot today. Call us at 415-964-5618, email [email protected] or RSVP on our events page.
We also hold community events to raise awareness about egg freezing and fertility care. Keep an eye on our events page for the details, and get in touch if you'd like to organize a talk with us.
Host a private info session Curious about egg freezing and have friends who are too? We now offer private info sessions for groups of 6 or more. Each can be tailored to your group’s specific questions and interests. We can even bring snacks.
Contact us today: 415-964-5618 or [email protected].
A woman’s antral follicle count (AFC) is a measure of the number of antral (or “resting”) follicles in each ovary. The AFC is performed during a transvaginal ultrasound, which usually takes about 5 minutes, and is included in every initial consultation.
Hormone tests are simple blood tests that help us understand your ovarian reserve and how hard your body is working to send signals to your ovaries to produce eggs.
A blood test done at any time during your menstrual cycle. Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is produced by the cells surrounding the follicles. It correlates well with the AFC and also with the number of eggs your body will produce with ovarian stimulation.
Dr. Peter Klatsky explains monitoring visits and the general use of tests.
The night before, you’ll have a hearty dinner and then abstain from any food or drink after midnight. The morning of your retrieval, you’ll check in about an hour before the procedure. Your nurse will guide you over to the lab where you’ll change into a warm robe and place your belongings in a secure locker. You’ll meet the anesthesiologist and embryologist who will be caring for you and your eggs. Let Dr. Klatsky explain what else to expect during your egg retrieval procedure.
Our goal is to obtain the greatest numbers of healthy eggs from your ovaries. The eggs begin in a small “antral” follicle in your ovary. Ovarian stimulation gently prompts these follicles to grow or “mature” a cohort of eggs. You will follow this process and can see how we measure your follicles during your monitoring appointments, which are usually 20-30 minute morning visits leading up to your retrieval. Based on the growth of your follicles (assessed by ultrasound), and hormone levels (assessed by blood tests), we adjust your medications and time your final injection, the “trigger shot” which causes the eggs to complete maturation for retrieval.