Donor Eggs Become Fertile Business

May 9, 2006 — -- Avery Lee Kennedy isn't just a cute4-month-old. She may be the embodiment of a new avenue infertility treatments.

Avery was conceived using a frozen donor egg from an egg bank, afledgling approach to helping infertile couples that reduces someof the disadvantages -- such as inconvenience, emotional turmoil and availability -- of using fresh donated ova.

"In five years, nobody is going to think anything about this," said Wendy Kennedy, Avery's mom, aboutusing frozen donor eggs. "It will become the norm."

Two donor agencies sell frozen eggs in the United States, and atleast one other might enter the arena.

For now, using frozen donor eggs is rare. Avery may be the first child bornin the United States from a frozen donor egg, although that'simpossible to verify.

Typically, donor egg pregnancies are achieved by using fresh eggsharvested from a donor that are fertilized and implanted inanother woman.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said egg freezingis still an experimental technology; few doctors know how to freezeand thaw eggs properly. One doctor estimates that only 200 childrenworldwide have been born using frozen eggs.

Egg freezing has been promoted recently as a way for young women to save their eggs for use laterin life. But some doctors say it's inappropriate to market anexperimental procedure as biological insurance.

No reliable statistics exist on the success of conceiving withfrozen eggs, said Dr. Marc A. Fritz, chairman of thepractice committee of the American Society for ReproductiveMedicine. The odds of having a baby using fresh donor eggs were 51percent in 2003, which is the most recent data available fromthe Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

Using fresh donor eggs has its own challenges. It requires thatthe menstrual cycles of the donor and recipient be synchronizedusing hormones. So finding a mutually convenient time can be achore, and a donor may either not produce eggs or change her mindmidcycle.

Demand for egg donors has increased as women wait longer tostart their families. Egg quality drops dramatically after age 35and is a chief cause of infertility.

Using frozen eggs would eliminate such problems, experts said.

Luci, who requested her last name not be used, opted to tryfrozen eggs for her second pregnancy after one donor she'd selectedcouldn't be found and another backed out. The 50-year oldenvironmental planner's first child was born using a donatedembryo.

"The whole experience is so emotionally loaded," said Luci."Frozen eggs seemed like a safer choice."

The frozen eggs Luci purchased produced viable embryos, but shecouldn't sustain a pregnancy.

Kennedy said she opted to use frozen eggs to avoid having tocoordinate with a donor's schedule. She also was troubled by thethought of having leftover embryos.

A live donor can produce as many as 20 eggs, butdepending on the recipient's age and health, guidelines state that no morethan five embryos should be implanted. Kennedy purchased only seveneggs. Five survived thawing and were then fertilized with herhusband's sperm, and three embryos were implanted.

"There was the moral dilemma about what to do with them," said Kennedy, a 41-year oldnurse in Lexington, Ky., referring to theleftover embryos, "and then there was thought that maybe thedonor wouldn't produce any eggs"

Kennedy bought her eggs from Cryo Eggs International in Phoenix.Diana Thomas, who started the bank nearly two years ago, saidanother client became pregnant with twins after using frozen ova. Thomas hasbeen running a traditional egg donation agency for 10 years.

Using frozen eggs cuts waiting time out of the process, since thedonor's portion of the job is done, said Thomas. Plus, the eggscan be shipped anywhere, eliminating travel costs that can occurwhen the donor and recipient don't live in the same vicinity.

"You can start whenever you want with frozen eggs," saidSheilah Gooding, a 31-year old donor.

Clients have a 40 percent chance of becoming pregnant usingdonor eggs, Thomas said, basing her prediction on the results of a adoctor who serves as her consultant.

Thomas conceded that many physicians still aren't comfortable usingfrozen donor eggs.

"It is just a matter of doctors getting familiar," saidThomas, whose three children were born using donor eggs.

Fred Rosenmund started the Donor Egg Bank last year after he andhis wife experienced fertility problems. The bank has frozen eggsfrom 14 donors, said Dr. John Jain, a professor at the University ofSouthern California's Keck School of Medicine and a consultant to thebank.

Jain says using frozen eggs is cheaper for recipients because adonor's roughly 18 to 20 ova are split into two batches, which spreads the associated costs between two recipients.

Recipients pay $18,000 for about 8 frozen eggs and, after payingfor drugs and implantation, the total cost goes up to about$20,000 in Los Angeles. If the eggs don't result in a live birth,the recipient gets additional ones free.

A fresh donor cycle would cost around $30,000. A cycle's pricevaries around the country, depending on fees paid to doctors anddonors. The Donor Egg Bank pays donors $7,000.

Starting a frozen egg bank is risky, because donors' fees andmedical expenses must be paid upfront even though their eggs maynever sell, one reason Donor Source International hasn'tstarted an egg bank, said CEO Steve Masler. The company is considering it, butMasler said he still isn't sure about the technology'sreliability.

Jain said USC has been conducting an experiment whereresearchers freeze a woman's own eggs and then thaws, fertilizes andimplants them. Fifty percent of the 20 women in the study have anongoing pregnancy.

"That's the same as the national birth rate using a freshdonor," Jain said.