National Infertility Awareness Week...(successful pregnancy after the cancer tr...),Health

"It's been a goal of mine and also of GRS to improve on protocols that have been published," Tucker said. "We have developed a successful approach to egg freezing referred to vitrification which is giving us well over 65 percent survival for all eggs that we actually freeze and store. Among its many applications, it can be and has been used to enable us to store and perhaps preserve the fertility of those women who have to undergo extensive chemo or radiation therapy."

Egg freezing is one potential solution to a set of specific infertility issues. The causes of infertility are numerous as increasingly are the solutions.

Today, nearly 90 percent of infertility cases are overcome through the use of advanced techniques, Tucker said, including:

-- in vitro fertilization (IVF), a technique in which egg cells are

fertilized by sperm outside the woman's womb, then transferred to the

woman's uterus

-- intracytoplasmic sperm injection, often recommended when there is a

problem with the sperm, including low motility, low sperm count or

abnormally shaped sperm or previous poor fertilization in IVF or a low

egg number

-- assisted hatching, most commonly recommended for women who have had

failed IVF cycles, poor embryo development, are age 38 or older or have

thickened embryo shells

-- egg donation, an option for some women who are unable to conceive due

to poor egg quality or ovarian function, surgical removal of ovaries

due to chemotherapy or genetic issues

"The important thing for many couples facing infertility is that there typically is a solution or solutions fo
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