NEW YORK, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing number of women are now having their first babies well into their thirties -- and even in their forties. There are several reasons for waiting to start a family. Women who wait usually have more financial security, more emotional maturity and more time to commit to their marriages and their careers before focusing their energy on children.
(See video from ViaCell at: http://media.medialink.com/WebNR.aspx?story=33180)
Unfortunately, it's a biological reality that the female egg becomes less viable over time -- unlike male sperm. The egg cell is also much harder to freeze because it contains a lot of water that can crystallize during the freezing process.
Now, a company called ViaCell is testing a new technique that is designed to protect the egg during freezing. The multiple site clinical trial is expected to enroll approximately three hundred healthy women, age twenty-one to thirty-five, who are currently seeking fertility treatment to demonstrate births from previously frozen eggs. Currently, there is not an FDA approved product for egg freezing.
The study is expected to be completed in 2009 -- and if the results are positive, it may give women more options when planning their families.
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