Some people might come across this blog in their own considerations about egg freezing (that's really mostly why I'm blogging this anyway). If you're one of those people, you've almost certainly heard of Extend Fertility - the mostly-marketing firm that brought egg freezing to the masses (and by masses, I mean the tiny fraction of women who can afford to do this and the perhaps few thousand woman worldwide who have actually gone through with it). Extend holds seminars-slash-parties, partners with various medical clinics, and is largely a lead generator for these clinics (Extend takes a cut). I went to one of these seminar/classes. On the Upper East Side, it was quite literally a party (titled "Take Control of Your Dating Life" - I didn't go because I wanted to learn how to do that, but because this is what all the Extend informational sessions are called) with wine and cheese and fruit and a panel including a doctor, a new-age-y therapist and a relationship expert. An astrologer would have easily fit into the vibe. Late 30's and early 40's type-A women - mostly attractive and well dressed in power suits - eating their fruit and cheese and sipping their sauvignon blanc, learned a little about empowerment and how to go on a first date without seeming baby desperate. There was a little bit of biology tossed in there. There were conversations about the merits of sex on the first date. There were also raffles, little blue robin egg shaped chocolates, and robin egg shaped soap gift bags. Awww .... egg soap for egg freezing!
For all the partying though, here's how I sum up the message I heard at the seminar. "You are single because you are baby desperate and men can tell. And who knows, gosh darn it, if this experimental egg freezing thing will make you a baby someday - no guarantees. But doing this will make you less desperate - freezing your eggs is how you take control. And then you will finally be lovable. If you don't want to die alone, freeze your eggs." Quite a marketing play, don't you think?
Bless Extend for bringing more awareness of egg freezing to more people. It's important to at least counter all the misperceptions that are created when 45 year old celebs have babies (and that's always with donor eggs - it's just not common knowledge, and this makes women thing that babymaking in their 40's is normal). But when I did my own follow up research, I decided I really didn't want to go with the clinic that Extend partnered with in NYC. I found that NYU had a much better program, higher success rates, more real factual information even if there was a little less wine, no gift bags, and a little less pandering.
So again, bless Extend for marketing egg freezing to the masses of women who have no idea about their own biological clocks and would otherwise think that personal trainers and healthy eating and celebrity anecdotes will keep them fertile into their early 40's. And bless Extend for getting covered in all the magazines that these women read. I may very well be going through this process only because of the awareness Extend brought to me - strike that, I'm pretty sure that without Extend, I wouldn't have started down the path of getting as informed about egg freezing as an option as I am.
All that said, I'm glad to be going through NYU (who doesn't partner with Extend) .... although I still do have the blue soap that I got from the Extend seminar. I guess some of my guests have used it.
For all the partying though, here's how I sum up the message I heard at the seminar. "You are single because you are baby desperate and men can tell. And who knows, gosh darn it, if this experimental egg freezing thing will make you a baby someday - no guarantees. But doing this will make you less desperate - freezing your eggs is how you take control. And then you will finally be lovable. If you don't want to die alone, freeze your eggs." Quite a marketing play, don't you think?
Bless Extend for bringing more awareness of egg freezing to more people. It's important to at least counter all the misperceptions that are created when 45 year old celebs have babies (and that's always with donor eggs - it's just not common knowledge, and this makes women thing that babymaking in their 40's is normal). But when I did my own follow up research, I decided I really didn't want to go with the clinic that Extend partnered with in NYC. I found that NYU had a much better program, higher success rates, more real factual information even if there was a little less wine, no gift bags, and a little less pandering.
So again, bless Extend for marketing egg freezing to the masses of women who have no idea about their own biological clocks and would otherwise think that personal trainers and healthy eating and celebrity anecdotes will keep them fertile into their early 40's. And bless Extend for getting covered in all the magazines that these women read. I may very well be going through this process only because of the awareness Extend brought to me - strike that, I'm pretty sure that without Extend, I wouldn't have started down the path of getting as informed about egg freezing as an option as I am.
All that said, I'm glad to be going through NYU (who doesn't partner with Extend) .... although I still do have the blue soap that I got from the Extend seminar. I guess some of my guests have used it.
This is all just my opinion, and I encourage you to go to an Extend seminar yourself. Go. It's free, it's a party, and maybe I'm totally wrong about it being mostly a marketing lead-generation thing. And I might be wrong about the clinic in NYC that Extend partners with, and perhaps you'll be looking at a different Extend-partnered clinic altogether. It might feel right to you and you will certainly be no worse off for going and giving Extend a shot. At least you'll get some soap.
1 comment:
Egg Freezing offers women planning to have children after the age of 35 the opportunity to effectively slow down their biological clocks. Extend Fertility's egg freezing services give women the unprecedented chance to store their eggs during their reproductive prime for use when they wish to start or expand their families.
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