What the Celebrities Don't Tell You
Sponsored by Fertility Specialists of Texas
Written by Dr. Rebecca Chilvers
It seems likebreveryone is having babies these days, especially if you are struggling withbrinfertility. Whenever a celebrity has abrbaby, it graces the cover of popular magazines. brThe sweet baby photos, smiling parents and doting family members are allbrmentioned in the articles, but what is not usually revealed is that many olderbrcelebrities decide to use younger donor eggs in conjunction with in vitrobrfertilization, also known as IVF, in order to conceive. IVF involves retrieval of some eggs from abrwoman's ovaries, placement of sperm around the eggs and letting fertilizationbroccur outside of the body in a lab after which the resultant embryos arebrtransferred back into a woman's uterus or womb. While the topic might not bebropenly discussed, donor eggs have been making pregnancies possible, forbrcelebrities and the general public alike, for quite some time.
Notably, itbris the fertility procedure with the highest pregnancy rate and lowestbrmiscarriage rate because donor eggs come from young women usually under the agebrof 32, and so the eggs have high reproductive potential. Statistically, the age of the egg is the mostbrpredictive factor in terms of pregnancy success. The younger the egg, the more likely thebrresultant embryo will end up being genetically normal and result in pregnancybrand the less likely the pregnancy is to end in miscarriage. For example, at age 30, using one's own eggsbrin an IVF cycle results, nationally speaking, in a live birth rate of 45brpercent and a miscarriage rate of around 10 percent. At age 40, using one's ownbreggs in an IVF cycle results in a live birth rate of 18 percent and abrmiscarriage rate of nearly 30 percent. At age 44, the live birth rate is 1brpercent, and the miscarriage rate is above 50 percent.
And thisbrprocedure is not just limited to patients over 40. Why might you want tobrconsider donor eggs? There are numerousbrreasons. Note the following cases:
· brA patient who has the diagnosis of prematurebrovarian failure, where she runs out of eggs and stops ovulating and having periodsbrbefore the age of 40. This can be sporadic or the result of a genetic syndromebrsuch as Turner's Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome.
· brA patient who has ovarian failure frombrchemotherapy and who did not have the opportunity to harvest her eggs andbrfreeze them before treatment.
· brA patient who had to have her ovaries removedbrsurgically.
· brA couple where one member has a familial geneticbrdisease that they do not want to risk passing down to successive generations.
· brA patient who has undergone fertility treatmentsbrwith IVF numerous times with her own eggs and has not conceived.
Using an eggbrdonor involves selecting an egg donor from numerous profiles. We have a donorbregg coordinator who helps make the process go smoothly and answers questionsbralong the way. The chosen egg donor goes through the ovary stimulation processbrand the egg retrieval, while the patient who is the recipient has her uterusbrprepared for pregnancy and receives the embryos at the embryo transfer.
At FertilitybrSpecialists of Texas, our pregnancy rates (and live birth rates) are well abovebrthe national average, and we are well versed in helping women conceive with inbrvitro fertilization using their own eggs but also using donor eggs. I perform abrthorough evaluation of each patient so that they know their ovarian reservebr(how many eggs they have left) and what the chances of success are using theirbrown eggs. Some older patients wish tobrtry to use their own eggs before using donor egg, which is a respectablebrdecision. When necessary, however, donor egg provides excellent chances ofbrpregnancy and a healthy baby.
If you thinkbryou may need donor egg IVF or would like to learn more about your own ovarianbrreserve and the chances of success using your own eggs to conceive a baby, thenbrplease call our office to schedule a consultation.
Rebecca Chilvers, M.D. is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and has completed a sub-specialty fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She received her undergraduate degree at Baylor University and her medical degree at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. She completed her residency and sub-specialty training at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where she also earned a Master of Medical Science degree.
In addition to being experienced with in vitro fertilization and fertility treatments, Dr. Chilvers is one of the few women reproductive endocrinologists in North Texas who has received specialized training on the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, a minimally-invasive option she uses for complex surgical procedures, including myomectomies and tubal reversals. Dr. Chilvers is well-versed in all aspects of infertility and enjoys helping patients with in vitro fertilization, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and fertility preservation via egg freezing.
She and her husband, Dean, currently live in Frisco with their daughter, Natalie.