North Bay Woman

S P R I N G 2 0 1 4 | NORTH BAY WOMAN 39 the laboratory. After a day or two, the eggs are fertilized, the embryos cultured and the sound embryos are planted in the womb, just as with IVF. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, pregnancy rates with IVM and IVF are comparable. However, IVM has the advantage of being, in general, much less expensive than IFV. Less expensive, however, is a relative term, since infertility treatments run into the tens of thousands of dollars. "To do any fertility in this country is expensive," Dr. Lane says, noting that hers was the first private practice in the area to take insurance. "There are very few companies that have benefits for adoption services, but more and more companies are offering coverage for fertility treatment." And there are more and more fertility treatment options to choose from. Egg-freezing, for example, which until 2012 was consid- ered "experimental," is now available in normal clinical practice, and is actively being promoted by egg banks in a fad known as "egg freezing parties." In addition to egg freezing technology, there's pre-implant genetic screening (PGS), in which the externally-fertilized eggs are analyzed and evaluated for health and viability and only the genetically "normal" embryos are saved, later to be implanted in the uterus of the woman or her surrogate. What's more, experimental procedures are quickly being brought to market in the multi-billion dollar business of baby-making These technological advances open up the possibility of a new kind of parenthood, one which gives people, women in particular, more control over their family planning. Laws and regulations have not caught up with practice. The process can be expensive: $10,000 to $20,000 per round of harvesting and freezing. And at this point, no amount of technology can create viable, healthy eggs in women over 42 years of age. So while egg-freezing and IVF double the chances a woman over 40 will get pregnant, the odds are still less than 5 percent. Then what does a woman do if she's approaching 40 and desperate to conceive? Dr. Lane, whose average patient age is just over 40, suggests the first step is to have a fertility check-up "to make sure there aren't any obvious issues that are going to impact your fertility." Put your own health first, adds Shevick. "Motherhood—conception, birth and raising children--takes tremendous amounts of qi (energy). A healthy body is required for quality and success." And start investigating your options now. Because the clock is ticking. "fertility would not have been an issue if they had had their children in their 20s and 30s," she explains. But no matter how fertile you are, there's going to come a time when you can't do it anymore." –Dr. Danielle Lane marinfertility.com | 415.925.9404 Fertility Care Reimagined State of the Art Embryology Lab Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist First IVM baby on West Coast Gentle and Personalized Care Low Dose Medication Options IVF, Artificial Insemination Fertility Preservation Egg Freezing, Ovulation Induction .

• Cover