Anaheim Family Rings in the Holidays in a Special Fashion.

Egg Freezing Leads to the Birth of a Healthy New Baby

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. -- A story on CBS News earlier this year reported there are currently 400,000 frozen embryos in storage at fertility clinics throughout the country, causing a great deal of concern, and controversy, for a variety of reasons. There are a wide range of opinions and emotions from groups who feel that the excess embryos should be used for medical research, while others feel the embryos should be given up for "adoption" to couples that are having a difficult time conceiving. Caught in the middle of this emotional debate are thousands of couples who are undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) who must decide on the question of excess embryos they may produce during their IVF cycle. Choices have included freezing of the embryos for use later, donation to another couple, or if their family is complete, discarding of the embryos.

However, recent scientific advancements at select fertility clinics now offer couples another choice on what to do with their surplus unfertilized eggs.

Infertile couples undergoing IVF may choose to inseminate a limited number of eggs to create embryos, while freezing unfertilized eggs for use in the future. That is the decision that Rachel, 33, and her husband made when they sought assistance from Dr. David Diaz, Medical Director for West Coast Fertility Centers in Orange County, California. The couple knew prior to their appointment with Dr. Diaz that they did not want to freeze any unused embryos.

"Prior to deciding on in vitro fertilization (IVF), my husband and I had to be comfortable with this decision based upon our religious beliefs," Rachel explained. "We did not want to freeze the embryos, nor did we want to throw any away. We believe life begins at conception and therefore wanted to ensure all of our embryos had the same opportunity to implant and grow."

In December 2002, Rachel began taking medication to prepare for the first IVF, and on February 11, 2003, the clinic retrieved eight eggs. "They picked three eggs to fertilize and two days later our three embryos were transferred back into me." There were still five eggs left, and Dr. Diaz and his embryologists discussed the idea of cryopreserving the remaining unfertilized eggs. "At the time, we froze my eggs just because the option was available to us. But because there had been no pregnancies from frozen eggs at that point, we always assumed they would never be used," said Rachel. Happily, the couple discovered on Feb. 28, 2003, that Rachel was pregnant, and Sophia was born in November of that year.

The couple returned to Dr. Diaz's office in 2005 to seek his help once again. "We never expected to use our frozen eggs, because we still hadn't heard of any reported pregnancies or births (from frozen eggs). But during our visit with Dr. Diaz, we discussed the fact that West Coast Fertility Centers had its first successful pregnancy using frozen eggs, and the baby was close to being born at that time (http://www.ivfbaby.com/news_archive/news_archive_2005_05_03.htm)." "We were thrilled," says Rachel. The couple proceeded to thaw four of the five eggs and three of them were injected with her husband's sperm then implanted in Rachel. Tests showed that Rachel was pregnant with one baby. Their new daughter, Maya Noelle, joined the family on September 24, 2006.

Recently, Rachel brought both her "miracle babies" to share her joy and happiness with the staff of WCFC. There were many hugs, photos and even joyful tears at seeing the new family fulfilled in their dream of achieving parenthood.

Rachel, her husband and big sister Sophia are thrilled to have Maya in their lives. "We are still having a hard time believing we have two little girls! I recently told Dr. Diaz that four years ago I didn't even know if we would ever have children because of my infertility. Now, I have my hands full with two kids!"

Rachel says she feels very fortunate to have conceived one of West Coast Fertility's first frozen egg babies. "I think scientific advancements with frozen eggs are such important ones. We did not want to freeze or discard our embryos, so being able to freeze my unfertilized eggs instead opened the door to IVF for us," Rachel said. "Dr. Diaz and his staff were extremely respectful of our decision to limit the number of embryos we created. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to have Maya as a result of their success with frozen eggs."

Rachel says that she and her husband are looking forward to the holidays. The couple says they are like big kids at Christmas time, and now they have an even greater reason to rejoice because they now have their new baby. "Our oldest daughter, Sophia, is 3 years old, so she is anxiously awaiting our trip to Disneyland to visit Santa Claus," said Rachel. "Sophia is already planning on showing Maya all the decorations. We'll get up early Christmas morning to see what Santa has left and then have our families over for Christmas dinner."

Dr. Diaz and his staff are happy that they have been able to give Rachel and her husband their 'new present' for the holiday season. "Storing a woman's eggs, as we did with Rachel's, is an exciting new advancement and a viable alternative to freezing a couple's embryos," comments Dr. Diaz. "By opting to freeze a woman's eggs instead of embryos, we help our patients remain in control of their reproductive options. I have always been in favor of respecting our patients' right to choose. I am disappointed, but not totally surprised, that the ASRM continues to consider egg freezing acceptable for some cancer patients but conversely they (ASRM), classify it as 'experimental' for infertile couples. Advocacy for egg freezing from physicians and patients alike, would go along way to expanding the role of a fertility center's range of service."

Rachel and her husband are ecstatic with the care they received from Dr. Diaz and his professional staff. "They were amazing to work with," Rachel says. "Infertility procedures are emotionally and physically draining, yet they were all able to keep us smiling through the process and gave us hugs and pep talks along the way. Dr. Diaz is fantastic about showing and explaining each part of the process."

For more information about Dr. David Diaz and West Coast Fertility Centers, visit www.ivfbaby.com or to learn how you can preserve your fertility visit www.eggfreezing.com. Call 714-513-1399 for more information.