Eggtober Q&A
with Dr. Edward Nejat
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer impacts 1 in 8 women in the US annually, and second only to skin cancer as the most common form of cancer.
At Generation Next Fertility here in New York City, we’re bringing attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the urgent need for fertility preservation treatment with the relaunch of our Eggtober Egg Freezing Campaign. GNF’s EGGTOBER initiative offers free egg freezing cycles before chemotherapy for up to 25 women directly affected by breast or ovarian cancer.
We sat down with Dr. Edward J Nejat, MD, MBA, FACOG, Practice Director at GNF for a quick Q&A to learn more about Eggtober and the importance of fertility preservation for patients just diagnosed with cancer.
Why was Eggtober developed?
Dr. Nejat: We founded Generation Next Fertility on the idea of putting infertility patients at the center of care. In the case of cancer patients, they must make quick decisions about doing a fertility preservation cycle, sometimes it’s a matter of days between diagnosis confirmation and the need to start a cycle.
Egg freezing or fertility preservation can preserve the health of those eggs BEFORE cancer treatment starts. By offering free egg freezing cycles, we can take some of the emotional stress and financial burden off the patient and make it about their needs first.
Does cancer treatment impact natural fertility?
Dr. Nejat: Most treatments for cancer such as chemotherapy and radiation are likely to reduce natural fertility and, in some cases, induce premature menopause. When it comes to treating infertility egg quantity and quality are critical measures that must be protected.
How does Eggtober work?
Dr. Nejat: If you or someone you know has just been diagnosed, get on our website to complete the enrollment forms. Basically, after completing the enrollment forms and being cleared for treatment by their oncologist, we’ll start a stimulation cycle and take the patient to egg retrieval.
Since many of these patients are not experiencing infertility, we usually can retrieve a good number of eggs and then freeze them for future use. By using a process called vitrification, we can keep eggs frozen indefinitely with high survival or thaw rates once it comes time to use those eggs.
Patients can learn more by visiting generationnextfertility.com/eggtober. The application which includes getting medical clearance from their oncologist, must be submitted by October 31, 2021.
GNF’s is offering up to 25 free fertility preservation cycles as part of Eggtober and we encourage our colleagues from other fertility centers in New York City to follow our lead and do what they can to help these patients.
