EXTEND FERTILITY - EGG PRESERVATION SERVICE
HUNTINGTON REPRODUCTIVE CENTER AND EXTEND FERTILITY™ TO HELP WOMEN STOP THE TICKING OF THE “BIOLOGICAL CLOCK”

New service gives women the option to freeze and store eggs – preserving them for future use.

PASADENA, CA June 2, 2004 – Huntington Reproductive Center today announced an exclusive partnership with Extend Fertility™, a key provider of fertility preservation technology and service to provide egg freezing services to women. The service will allow women to proactively plan for the future – just as they plan for personal and professional development – by freezing and storing their young, healthier eggs for the time when they are ready to start their families. Huntington Reproductive Center will be one of the first centers where Extend Fertility clients can have the service provided.

Today, approximately one of out of every three women in their thirties has never been married versus approximately one in ten in 1970. This dramatic shift in social demographics has resulted in a growing anxiety around the option of motherhood.

“The days of the biological clock are over,” says Bradford Kolb, MD, Huntington Reproductive Center. “In the past, women were bound by the limitations of time when it came to their reproductive choices. Women who wanted to get pregnant later in life were faced with egg quality issues. Now they have the option of extending their fertility by preserving their eggs at a time when they are much healthier. It’s quite remarkable.”

Because women’s bodies ovulate the best eggs first, fertility peaks during the mid 20s and begins to decline around the age of 30. By the mid 30s and early 40s, a woman’s chances of getting pregnant using her own eggs dramatically decreases to less than 10%. By the early 40s, nearly half of those eggs contain genetic abnormalities. “This way, when a woman freezes her eggs, for example, around the age of 31, she can be assured that the eggs she is storing are the most viable eggs she’ll ever have,” explains John Wilcox MD of Huntington Reproductive Center.

“Women of the past two generations have been told that they can have it all – work, personal success, a family,” said Christy Jones, founder and CEP, Extend Fertility. “Unfortunately, the reality is that our biology – specifically, our eggs – haven’t evolved with those opportunities. Huntington Reproductive Center and Extend Fertility will give women more control when it comes to making these difficult life-timing decisions.”

Who Will Egg Freezing Appeal To?

The service is expected to appeal to a broad range of women – from cancer patients facing chemotherapy, to single, professional women and couples starting their families later in life. By taking advantage of the technology to freeze and preserve younger, healthier eggs, women can expect a pregnancy success rate later in life that is closer to their natural peak fertility rate of 20-30%.