Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing Symposium

Written by Steve Masler, CEO of Fertility SOURCE Companies

Fertility Source Companies sponsored and hosted a symposium in New York City on Directions and Trends in Egg Freezing. The program was arranged to present the legal, ethical and scientific/medical issues involved in what is becoming a rapidly progressing technology aimed at making the egg donation process more efficient from a coordination and cost standpoint.

Presenters were psychotherapist, Patricia Mendel, LCSW speaking on ethical issues; Susan L. Crockin, JD, speaking on legal issues; and Brent Barrett, Ph.D., H.C.L.D. speaking on scientific/medical issues.

The audience, largely comprised of physicians and their clinical staff from various fertility practices, was highly interactive with the speakers, engaging them in dialogue about cases they experienced in their own practices as well as directions for egg freezing in the fertility community at large.

Among the issues that were covered at the symposium were the following:

Legal Issues:
· Who owns the frozen donor eggs?
· Are the eggs bought and sold?
· What rights might the donor have over use of her eggs?
· Likelihood of prompting FDA quarantine (a la sperm banks)

Medical Issues:
· Vitrification (fast freeze) or slow freeze
· How many eggs in a batch?
· Success rates

Ethical Issues:
· Limits on donor compensation
· Reduction of frozen embryos (a plus)
· Experimental procedure
· Disposition of residual eggs (beyond batches)

Financial Issues:
· Donor compensation
· Pricing

Fertility SOURCE Companies would very much appreciate your thoughts and comments on any of the issues mentioned above. Hopefully, this will bring new light to many in the Third Party Reproduction field.