Inception Fertility's Chief Executive Physician Leads Groundbreaking Study on Fertility Preservation

Dr. James A. Grifo and his team at NYU Langone Fertility Center and NYU Grossman School of Medicine release largest study of egg freezing to date

HOUSTON, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NYU Langone Fertility Center, a member of Inception Fertility's network of clinical practices, in conjunction with NYU Grossman School of Medicine, released the largest U.S. report of elective fertility preservation outcomes to date. Inception is the largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America. The results of this research were recently published in Fertility and Sterility.

Led by James A. Grifo, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at NYU Langone Fertility Center and Chief Executive Physician of Inception Fertility, the study found that 70 percent of women who froze eggs when they were younger than 38 – and thawed at least 20 eggs at a later date – had a baby.

These new findings are based on 15 years of frozen egg thaw outcomes for women who had delayed childbearing and faced natural, age-related fertility decline. Based on actual clinical experience, the study also reports 211 babies were delivered from egg freezing and found that a considerable number of the women studied had more than one child through egg preservation.

"The results of this groundbreaking study further amplify that fertility preservation is a viable option for women who want to take control over their fertility and expand their options, empowering them to make reproductive choices that are best for them," said Dr. Grifo. "As more women need or have to delay childbirth, egg freezing allows them to serve as their own egg donor giving them considerably high chances of success."

"Inception Fertility congratulates Dr. Grifo and his colleagues at NYU Langone Fertility Center and NYU Grossman School of Medicine for this unprecedented study and for moving the fertility industry forward by confirming that women have viable choices when it comes to their reproductive health," said TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility. "We are proud to have NYU Langone Fertility Center as part of our clinical network and look forward to future contributions from this outstanding team."

Specialists within the NYU Langone Fertility Center have been innovators in the development of egg freezing technology, with the first baby born through via egg freezing at NYU Langone in July 2005. NYU Langone Fertility Center joined Inception's network of clinics in 2018. The Center has seen almost triple the number of women starting egg freezing cycles in 2022 in comparison to 2019.

"As a part of Inception's clinical network, we are excited to share these findings with our patients as we counsel them on their fertility preservation options," said Dr. Christine Mansfield, Reproductive Specialist and Medical Director at Aspire Fertility Austin and Aspire Fertility Dallas, clinics that are part of Inception's clinical network. "We congratulate our colleague, Dr. Grifo, and his entire team who successfully presented this study."

Within the study, 543 patients participated with an average age of 38 years old at the time of the first egg freeze, which is older than the optimal age to freeze eggs (35 years old or younger). These patients underwent 800 egg freezing cycles, 605 egg thaws, and 436 embryo transfers between 2005-2020. 

The investigation found that overall, 39 percent of women between 27-44 years old, with a majority between 35-40 years old at egg freeze, had a least one child from their frozen eggs, which is comparable with age-matched IVF outcomes. Across all ages, women who thawed more than 20 mature eggs had a 58 percent live birth rate, which was profound and unexpected as this group included patients past their reproductive prime. In fact, 14 patients who froze eggs at the age of 41–43 years successfully had children from their frozen eggs. As noted, women under 38 years old who had 20 or more mature eggs thawed achieved a 70 percent live birth rate per patient. The length of frozen egg storage did not change the success rate.

Results also showed that preimplantation genetic screening with embryos from frozen and eventually thawed eggs resulted in lower miscarriage rates and higher live birth rates per transfer. Such screening also allows for single embryo transfers, yielding singleton pregnancies, which are safer for both the mother and child, say the authors.  

Dr. Grifo, also a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Langone, cautions that the study was limited by the number of patients. Future larger studies are under way to increase the data set from which patients can benefit and model their expected success rates. He adds that additional studies from a variety of geographic locations and center types are also necessary.

Funding support for the foundational scientific studies that led to NYU Langone's clinically successful oocyte cryopreservation program was provided by the Carolyn and Malcom Wiener Foundation.

In addition to Dr. Cascante and Dr. Grifo, other clinician-scientists in the study were Jennifer K. Blakemore, MD; Shannon M. DeVore, MD; Brooke Hodes-Wertz, MD, MPH; Elizabeth Fino, MD; Alan S. Berkeley, MD; Carlos M. Parra, MD; and Caroline McCaffrey, PhD. The entire team of embryologists, doctors, nurses and support staff at the NYU Langone Fertility Center contributed to the success presented in this study.

Data regarding NYU's procedures and success rates can be found at: https://www.sartcorsonline.com by search under clinic ID 1895. A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because patient medical characteristics, treatment approaches, and entry criteria for ART may vary from clinic to clinic.

Inception Fertility™ (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes.

Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) – including in vitro fertilization (IVF), pregenetic implantation testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services – and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by through development, research and thought leadership.

Its growing family of national organizations is an ecosystem of care, which touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility. Through this unique ecosystem, Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible to exceed patient expectations.

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SOURCE Inception Fertility