Extend Fertility
Empowering Family Planning Decisions through Fertility Preservation

Egg freezing has evolved from its beginnings in the 1980s as an experimental procedure to an effective way to take control of one’s reproductive future. Egg freezing, also known as fertility preservation, is now a popular option among people with ovaries who want to preserve the higher reproductive potential of their younger years and start a family on their own terms and timeline.

Extend Fertility, the pioneer clinic in the U.S. focuses on fertility preservation and is one of the highest-volume centers for egg freezing, striving to create a culture and environment that reflects this evolution. As a clinic specializing in fertility preservation, the New York-based medical office makes the process accessible and affordable for all types of patients, allowing them to confidently and safely plan for their futures.

“Unlike fertility clinics that focus primarily on patients struggling to get pregnant, our office space, website, and pricing model are designed specifically for those who are pursuing egg freezing as a proactive, elective step,” says Joshua Klein, MD, co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Extend Fertility. “We recognize that many of our patients may not have medical issues, may not have a partner, and may not have insurance coverage for this treatment. Therefore, we prioritize affordability and strive to make every aspect of our process as comfortable and appealing as possible.”

The Egg-Freezing Process

The initial steps to freezing eggs at Extend Fertility involves a fertility assessment (which involves blood work and ultrasounds), as well as a 45-60-minute consultation with a provider. This individualized approach helps providers educate prospective patients on their personal success rate based on their age and ovarian reserve, as well as discuss the potential benefits and limitations of egg freezing.

For patients who decide to move forward, the next step is taking injectable medications to stimulate egg growth for about 8 to 12 days, as well as ultrasounds and blood work at the clinic at the same time to monitor the patient’s response to these medications.

The final step is egg retrieval, an outpatient, 10-15 minute anesthesia-based procedure where a physician inserts a needle under ultrasound guidance to extract the eggs from the ovaries, says Dr. Klein. The whole process is minimally intrusive to a patient’s work schedule and life, and, in many circumstances, has tremendous value in the long run.

Measuring Egg-Freezing Success

The Extend Fertility team has witnessed full life cycles of fertility preservation patients since its inception in 2016— those who froze their eggs and, often years later, returned to use those eggs to make embryos and start their families. Extend Fertility conducted a retrospective 8-year-long study that analyzed thaw survival rates, pregnancy rates after a frozen embryo transfer (FET), and live births using these frozen eggs. Dr. Klein, along with Nataki Douglas, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Extend Fertility, presented the groundbreaking research at the 2024 American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Conference in October. The results of the study prove egg freezing is a reliable, science-backed option for fertility preservation.

Extend Fertility’s affordable and personalized approach to family building empowers patients to take charge of their reproductive futures.

“We’re seeing more and more people who come to us and achieve pregnancy, and they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to get pregnant today if not for their frozen eggs,” says Dr. Klein. “Egg freezing is a very powerful technology that can be life-changing.”