CT Public Hearing on Insurance Coverage for elective egg freezing

The Insurance and Real Estate Committee will hold a public hearing on Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. in Room 2D of the LOB.

Included on the agenda is: Proposed S.B. No. 339 AN ACT REQUIRING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR ELECTIVE FERTILITY PRESERVATION TREATMENTS.

We need your voice

How to testify at Connecticut Public Hearing and contact your state representative

https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/Content/YourVoice.asp

About Egg Freezing

Egg freezing is an exciting technology that allows women to store frozen, unfertilized eggs that can be used for fertilization and pregnancy at a later time. Egg freezing benefits women in several ways. Egg supply and egg quality diminish as women age. Egg freezing allows women to store their eggs at a younger age for future use. Another benefit is that instead of storing embryos, this process eliminates some of the ethical and religious concerns that accompany embryo freezing, storage, and disposal. This unique program can help women who either want to delay conception for personal reasons or for women who have medical emergencies that may impact their ability to conceive.

During the egg freezing process, eggs are retrieved from a woman’s ovaries, frozen in a cryoprotective solution, and then thawed when she wishes to become pregnant. The thawed eggs are then warmed and fertilized through a process called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The process includes taking fertility drugs that will help stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. The eggs are harvested by using a small needle inserted under ultrasound guidance into the vagina to reach the ovaries and aspirate the eggs out. Patients are asleep during this short outpatient procedure and then can go home the same day. These eggs then are immersed in a special cryoprotective solution and frozen in a liquid nitrogen tank that is stored in our IVF laboratory until they are ready to be fertilized to initiate a pregnancy. Egg freezing is not a new procedure and has been proven successful via many IRB approved clinical trials. Back in 2013, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Ethics Committee removed the “experimental” label from egg freezing.

IVF is expensive. We have partnered with Ferring Pharmaceuticals in a clinical drug trial offering a compensated IVF cycle including IVF medications and are looking for participants. If you meet the initial criteria listed on this page, please tell your doctor that you are interested in the RITA study.

Download study details here.

Although this is a recipe for a summer salad, it’s really great in the Winter as well. From Ami Chokshi, the Center’s Fertility Health Coach in honor of Healthy Weight Week.

Are you getting 7-9 servings of veggies in a day to support your fertility? If not, the summer is a great season to get started because of the many fresh veggies available at the store, at farmers markets, and in your garden.

Not only are vegetables chock full of vitamins and minerals to ensure you are getting optimal daily nutrients for your fertility, but the fiber also supports healthy digestion and a steady energy level, which is vital when you are trying to conceive.

I chose these ingredients for this salad because they are in season, rich in fertility supporting nutrients, diverse and colorful, and support healthy digestion and elimination.

Consider doubling or tripling the ingredients and make a few salads for the week and store in the fridge. “Make once, eat twice” saves us time and energy.

Here are some benefits of the ingredients I chose –

• Choose organic lettuce to reduce pesticides in our body. Green lettuce is rich in folate, an important B vitamin for fertility. Also, during colder months, wash lettuce under warm water to take the chill of the salad.
• Beets and lemon juice support liver health and detoxification.
• Carrots are rich in beta carotene. They support healthy blood pressure and steady nerves,
• Avocado offers healthy and satiating fats, which have numerous benefits both to your health and fertility.
• Cucumbers are hydrating and alkalinizing
• Pumpkin seeds are rich in both zinc and magnesium.
• Raw Honey is an antiviral food and is rich in amino acids, minerals, and enzymes.
• Apple cider vinegar supports digestive health and hydrochloric acid production in the stomach.
• I added additional protein (did you know veggies contain protein?) with the organic chicken. Protein plus the fiber of the salad support healthy blood sugar and energy levels. If you are a vegetarian and would like additional protein, try 1/4 cup of black beans or chickpeas.

A Fruitful Body Salad

Salad

2-3 cups of Organic Spring Mix

1/4 cup of Beets, roasted & cubed

1/4 cup Carrots, shredded or sliced

1/2 Avocado, sliced

1/4 cup Cucumbers

1 tsp of Pumpkin seeds

3 oz of Organic Chicken

**Add ingredients into a large bowl

 

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

2 T Fresh lemon juice

1/4 C ACV

1/3 C Olive

oil

1 Tablespoon raw honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T dijon mustard

1/4 tsp sea salt

Pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

**Combine in a mason jar and shake it up well.

**Mix 2-3 tablespoons in with your salad

**Store the rest in the refrigerator.

Positive Fertility Magazine, Summer 2018

Photography by Dean Batchelder

Thanks to “Around the Town of Branford with Henry and Frank” and Branford Community Television for the opportunity to come in and talk about our newest office opening in Branford. We’re accepting appointments now for March, so please call us at (203) 481-1707 to make yours.

In recognition of Healthy Weight Week, Ami Chokshi, the Center’s Fertility & IVF Health Coach offers some tips and recipes. As a former fertility patient, Ami uses her experience and education to help women and couples to optimize their health and fertility. She does it through nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle shifts that maximize their chances of conception.

“Smoothies are a wonderful way to get a bunch of nutrients in one meal, but when winter arrives, keeping your core warm with warming foods and spices is a better option to support your fertility health and nourish your soul!

That’s why during the winter, I like to replace my cold smoothie with a warm blended soup. And, this dairy-free recipe is one of my favorites for many reasons. First, it’s quick and easy to make. And, you can replace the main ingredient with any vegetable on hand, like broccoli, squash, pumpkin, mushrooms, or asparagus.

Also, soups are a terrific way to get more veggies in. To optimize our nutrition, we should be eating a minimum of five servings a day. It’s even more important if you are trying to get pregnant. This can be challenging otherwise, but blending them can make this important fertility booster easier.

I know many who dislike veggies but love this recipe! Learning new ways to prepare vegetables and cooking them with different spices can make a huge difference in taste, especially if you’ve grown up on boiled, bland veggies. Spices, like the curry powder in this soup, enhance the flavors, build circulation, warm your core, and fuel your body’s detoxification systems.

Adding chicken bone broth instead of water or vegetable broth makes this soup a complete meal, having protein, fat, and carbohydrates. So, it can be a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Yes, I said breakfast. We are programmed to think that breakfast foods have to be traditional foods like eggs and cereal, but that’s not so. Rethink what you eat, and the doors will open to new ideas.

Bone broth is not only a fertility superfood. It also offers superior gut healing properties as well as much needed minerals. The collagen in the broth nourishes your intestinal lining and reduces inflammation.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! I would love to know how you made it your own.

Winter Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients

1 Small Onion, diced

1 T of Coconut Oil

2 lbs of Carrots, chopped

1 T of fresh Ginger, peeled and grated

4 C of Chicken Bone Broth

1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

2 t Curry Powder (or Turmeric)

1 t Sea Salt

Directions

1. Saute onion in coconut oil until soft, about 5-8 minutes
2. Add Carrots, Ginger, Chicken Bone Broth, Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, and Curry Powder. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until carrots are soft.
3. Use a hand-held blender or a high-speed blender to blend the soup until smooth or desired consistency.
4. Divide into bowls and adjust salt if necessary.
5. Top with cilantro and/or hemp seeds.
6. Save remaining soup in mason jars for another day’s meal.
7. Enjoy!

Recipe published in the Dec. issue of Positive Fertility Magazine.

 

Our new satellite location in Branford’s Stony Brook Medical Center at 6 Business Park Drive will officially open in March 2019. Appointments are now being taken.

The new Branford location joins the Center’s main facility in Farmington, plus two additional satellite locations in Hartford and New London. According to the Center’s CEO, Paul Verrastro, “We are excited to open our new Branford facility to better serve patients in New Haven county and surrounding areas. Fertility treatment can require many trips to our facilities, so we made sure our new office is designed specifically for patient convenience and comfort. Easily accessible off main highway routes, our new location offers free parking, private waiting areas, and comfortable, patient-friendly rooms.”

In 2015, the Center opened a state-of-the-art, custom-designed facility in Farmington featuring one of the most highly advanced IVF labs in the world including an innovative air purification and irradiation technology called the LifeAire System. New data from in vitro fertilization programs using LifeAire System demonstrates dramatic increases in clinical pregnancies through in vitro fertilization.

The Center for Reproductive Services is Connecticut’s largest fertility program, and one of the most successful in the country. Started in 1984, the Center employs over 100 individuals in the state and is responsible for the births of close to 13,000 babies. The Center is an academic affiliate of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and runs the fellowship program in Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at the UConn School of Medicine. The Center for Advanced Reproductive Services is managed by In Vitro Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of Women’s Health USA, Inc. (Whusa). Whusa is a family of companies dedicated to providing the best in business management solutions in partnership with physicians.

The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded accreditation to our laboratory here at The Center for Advanced Reproductive Services based on results of a recent on-site inspection conducted by CAP inspectors. The inspection team included practicing pathology and laboratory medicine professionals.

The CAP advised Claudio Benadiva, MD, HCLD of this national recognition and congratulated the laboratory for its excellence in the services being provided. Our laboratory is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide.

The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, begun in the early 1960s, as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government’s own inspection program.

During the CAP accreditation process, designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management.

Congratulations to every member of our team for this significant accomplishment that further demonstrates our commitment to high-quality patient care at the Center.

 About the College of American Pathologists

As the world’s largest organization of board-certified pathologists and leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. For more information, read the CAP Annual Report at cap.org.

We cannot express our gratitude enough when we are visited by those we were able to help. And especially when we’re greeted with sweet treats by a wonderful young man who, as his mom says, “loves to visit his special friends and deliver them treats.”

Exciting news! The Center is pleased to announce we are opening a satellite location in Branford at the Stony Creek Medical Center, 6 Business Park Drive in March 2019. Appointments will be taken beginning in January 2019 by calling (203) 481-1707 or filling out the appointment form on our website.

As this is the season of giving, have you ever considered being an anonymous egg donor? Egg donation is an incredible gift that can help individuals who might never otherwise have a child experience the joy of parenthood. Often, those who choose to use an egg donor have exhausted every other type of fertility treatment or are in need of donor eggs for their conception attempts. Very simply, the choice to become an egg donor means giving the gift of life. The Egg Donor Program at The Center assisted in the conception of the first child born from a donor egg in New England in 1987. Since then, we’ve helped many build their families with donated eggs, and our program continues to grow. Egg donors are compensated $8000 for their time and effort during the screening & donation process. Minimum requirements to be an egg donor include: age 21-32, non-smoker and full medical history of both biological parents. For more information on becoming an egg donor please visit https://www.donoreggct.com or call 860.321.7082 EXT 8022.