Three Chicago Area Fertility Agencies Launch 'Shared Ris...( CHICAGO Nov. 24 /- Three leading area...),Health

CHICAGO, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Three leading area fertility solutions agencies today announced the launch of a unique cooperative program to help intended parents better manage the risk of egg donors dropping out before the retrieval process is completed.

The "Shared Risk Donor Program" is an initiative by The Center for Egg Options (CEO), Northbrook, IL; ConceiveAbilities, and Alternative Reproductive Resources (ARR), both of Chicago.

Egg donation is an increasingly common approach to achieving pregnancy when viable eggs are not otherwise available. Intended parents choose a donor through an agency, based on traits important to them. Her eggs are retrieved as part of a medical process, fertilized, and either carried by the birth mother or a gestational surrogate. The donor is compensated for her time and effort for the retrieval process.

Occasionally, egg donors will withdraw from the process for personal or medical reasons after the fee has been paid. The Shared Risk Donor Program gives intended parents the option of choosing a new egg donor from any of the three agencies should this happen. Participants will not incur any additional agency fees, even if the donor is not represented by their agency. There is a nominal enrollment fee.

"The process of building a family through advanced reproductive technologies can be stressful," said Nancy Block of CEO (http://www.egg411.com). "The early loss of an egg donor doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's emotionally frustrating and a financial drain."

Nazca Fontes of ConceiveAbilities (http://www.conceiveabilities.com) said that rather than leave would-be parents discouraged at being back at square one, this program gives them easy access to three times as many potential egg donors as they originally had, without
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