Boston IVF announces participant in fully enrolled egg freezing study has become pregnant

Apr 4 2007

Boston IVF has announced a participant in their fully enrolled egg freezing study has become pregnant.

This is the first pregnancy in Massachusetts to result from egg freezing. The study was performed by Boston IVF and sponsored by an independent medical grant from EMD Serono, a biotech company with an area of focus on infertility.

The process of successfully freezing eggs is very delicate and arduous. The egg is the largest cell in the human body. It is comprised mostly of water and thus very difficult to freeze without destroying it. Boston IVF uses technology that replaces the fluid with molecules that make the egg less vulnerable to freezing and more viable for fertilization once they are thawed.

"The pregnancy resulting from this study is a major milestone for Boston IVF and holds enormous promise for patients who hope to preserve their fertility by freezing their eggs so that they can become pregnant at a later time in their lives," said. Dr. Michael Alper, medical director of Boston IVF and lead investigator in the study. "We now have the option of suspending a women's biological clock. Egg freezing is also particularly wonderful for cancer patients who may become sterile from chemotherapy. Under the leadership of Boston IVF's scientific director, Dr. Douglas Powers, we plan to continue our research to perfect technologies that will provide patients with the most effective and safest options for building families."

Boston IVF is internationally renowned for its technologically advanced treatments and offers patients the opportunity to participate in research studies. There are currently ongoing studies both in standard IVF and egg freezing that offer patients the opportunity to become parents with the latest technology.