Egg Freezing in Newark, NJ | Damien Fertility Partners
Egg freezing volume in the United States has grown substantially over the past decade, driven in part by expanded insurance coverage and improved vitrification outcomes.
In New Jersey specifically, 5.6% of all infants born in 2022 were conceived through assisted reproductive technology, the second-highest state rate in the country behind Massachusetts. That volume is served by a fairly concentrated field: the state is home to approximately 87 reproductive endocrinologists across roughly 20 practices and 40 locations, according to provider-count data compiled by US News.
We’ve provided fertility treatment across New Jersey since 1989, when our founding physicians launched the first IVF program in Monmouth and Ocean County, originally under the name East Coast IVF. Our Newark office at 60 Park Place, Suite 210, gives patients across Essex County access to the same CAP-accredited embryology laboratory and fertility preservation services available at our Shrewsbury location, with the same physician overseeing every monitoring visit and retrieval from the first consultation forward.
Request a consultation to discuss whether egg freezing fits your timeline and goals.
Candidates for Egg Freezing
Patients pursue egg freezing for medical and elective reasons, and the two paths differ in urgency and, often, in insurance treatment.
Medical (Iatrogenic) Preservation
Patients facing chemotherapy, radiation, or other treatments that threaten ovarian reserve freeze eggs beforehand to preserve future options. New Jersey’s fertility insurance mandate, expanded in 2024, broadened coverage eligibility by removing prior restrictions tied to age, relationship status, and orientation.
Elective (Planned) Preservation
Patients without a medical diagnosis freeze eggs to extend their reproductive timeline, often in their early-to-mid thirties, before age-related decline in egg quantity and quality accelerates.
Diminished Ovarian Reserve
Patients who receive an early low-AMH or low-antral-follicle-count result sometimes freeze eggs sooner than planned, on the recommendation of a reproductive endocrinologist, to preserve remaining reserve.
LGBTQ+ Patients and Single Parents by Choice
Egg freezing also serves patients whose path to parenthood doesn’t follow a traditional medical timeline. We provide dedicated LGBTQ+ family-building support, including reciprocal IVF for female couples and gestational carrier arrangements for male couples, and separate services for singles pursuing parenthood independently.
For all of these patients, egg freezing is a way to preserve options on their own schedule rather than a schedule dictated by circumstance.
The Egg Freezing Process, Step by Step
The clinical steps mirror the early stages of IVF, with the process ending at retrieval rather than continuing to fertilization and transfer.
Baseline testing. We assess ovarian reserve through AMH bloodwork and an antral follicle count ultrasound, typically within the first cycle day or two. This establishes an expected response to stimulation medication before treatment begins, and it’s often the visit where a patient gets a first personalized sense of a realistic egg count for a single cycle.
Ovarian stimulation. Injectable medications prompt the ovaries to develop multiple follicles over approximately 8 to 14 days. Patients return for monitoring visits every two to three days so we can adjust medication dosing in response to follicle growth. Our Newark office’s Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday hours are structured around this cadence, so monitoring visits can typically be scheduled without disrupting a full work week.
Trigger shot and retrieval. Once follicles reach target size, a trigger shot completes final egg maturation roughly 36 hours before retrieval. The retrieval itself is a short outpatient procedure performed under sedation, typically lasting 15 to 20 minutes.
Vitrification. Mature eggs are frozen using vitrification, a rapid-freeze technique that largely replaced slow-freeze methods after the American Society for Reproductive Medicine removed the experimental label from oocyte cryopreservation in 2013. Frozen eggs can remain viable in storage for an extended period, with no established upper limit based on storage duration alone.
Recovery Expectations
Most patients return to normal activity within a day or two of retrieval. Mild bloating, cramping, or spotting is common in the days following the procedure as the ovaries settle after stimulation. We ask patients to avoid strenuous exercise for a short window afterward, and our care team is reachable during that recovery period.
Age and Egg Number Work Together
The number of eggs to freeze is best considered alongside the age at which they’re retrieved, rather than as a universal target that applies to everyone.
The Age-Number Relationship
As age increases, the likelihood that an individual frozen egg will ultimately result in a live birth generally decreases, which makes the number of mature eggs preserved an important part of fertility-preservation planning.
In its evidence-based guideline, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine reports estimates from a single-center cohort study — Doyle et al., published in Fertility and Sterility in 2016 — suggesting that approximately 14 mature oocytes for women ages 30–34, 15 for ages 35–37, and 26 for ages 38–40 could correspond to a 70% estimated chance of at least one live birth.
Estimates, Not Targets
These figures are estimates rather than recommended targets. The underlying study drew from a single institution and a relatively limited patient population, and ASRM’s own conclusion is that there is insufficient evidence to advise patients on an absolute number of eggs required to achieve a reasonable probability of a future live birth.
The Role of Ovarian Reserve Testing
Ovarian-reserve tests such as AMH and antral follicle count add another piece of the picture: they help predict how many oocytes a patient may produce during stimulation, but they shouldn’t be used independently of age to predict future live-birth outcomes. A count of 15 eggs frozen at 32 doesn’t carry the same future reproductive potential as 15 eggs frozen at 39, even though the number on paper is identical.
Personalizing the Plan
A useful preservation plan weighs age, ovarian response, number of mature eggs retrieved, and personal reproductive goals together, rather than any single figure in isolation. In practice, that’s the conversation we have at your baseline visit — translating your specific AMH level and antral follicle count into a realistic range for one cycle, or a case for banking across two.
CAP-Accredited Embryology Lab and AI-Assisted Monitoring
Egg freezing outcomes depend heavily on laboratory technique, since vitrification and later thaw survival are handled entirely by the embryology team. Our laboratory holds accreditation from the College of American Pathologists, the FDA, and the New Jersey State Department of Health, each with zero deficiencies. Our lab operates under the direction of Frank Barnes, PhD, HCLD, our Laboratory Director, and serves patients across all three of our offices, including Newark.
CHLOE and AI-Assisted Monitoring
During the stimulation phase, we use CHLOE™, an AI-powered monitoring system developed by Fairtility, built into our embryoscope time-lapse incubators. The incubator maintains a stable, undisturbed environment while CHLOE continuously tracks development, which supports more consistent assessment than manual observation alone and gives patients a detailed visual record to review with their physician.
In-House Surgical Support
Some fertility diagnoses, such as fibroids or endometriosis, require surgical evaluation before or during treatment. Rather than referring patients out, we keep this in-house through Dr. Nina Seigelstein, a board-certified OB/GYN specializing in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, so patients don’t need to coordinate care across separate practices mid-cycle.
Board-Certified Physicians Serving Essex County
Every egg freezing patient at our Newark office works with the same physician from initial consultation through retrieval. Our team includes two reproductive endocrinologists, both board-certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Miguel Damien
Dr. Damien founded the practice in 1989 after training at Dartmouth Medical School, completing his OB/GYN residency at Harvard Medical School, and holding REI fellowships at both Harvard and the University of Connecticut. He is fluent in Spanish, and Castle Connolly has named him a Top Doctor in the NY Metro Area six times (2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2018).
Dr. Barry Perlman
Dr. Perlman joined the practice in 2023, board-certified in REI with clinical interests in PCOS, ovarian aging, male factor infertility, and fertility preservation specifically. He has published peer-reviewed research in ASRM’s Fertility and Sterility journal.
The Value of Physician Continuity
Continuity of care means the physician who reviews your baseline testing is the same one adjusting your medication dosing, performing your retrieval, and discussing your results afterward. This contrasts with larger regional networks, where patients may see a rotating group of physicians across monitoring visits. We call this our “partner” approach, and it applies the same way whether a patient is seen in Newark, Shrewsbury, or Jersey City.
We also report outcomes to SART using standardized definitions, which allows patients to compare our results against national averages by age group.
From Storage to Future Use
Frozen eggs remain in storage until a patient is ready to attempt pregnancy, whether that’s one year later or considerably longer.
Thawing and Fertilization
When a patient returns to use stored eggs, the lab thaws (warms) the vitrified oocytes, and eggs that survive warming are fertilized through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as part of an IVF cycle. Not every warmed egg survives thaw, fertilizes, or develops into a transferable embryo, which is part of why the original egg count and the age at freezing both carry forward into this stage.
Genetic Testing as an Option
Patients who develop multiple embryos from a thaw cycle can choose to add preimplantation genetic testing before transfer, the same way they could with embryos created from a fresh IVF cycle.
Diversity, LGBTQ+ Access, and Single-Patient Care
Our approach to fertility preservation is shaped by a broader commitment to care that doesn’t gatekeep based on circumstances outside a patient’s diagnosis.
No BMI-Based Restrictions
We take a holistic approach to care, evaluating each patient’s overall health rather than limiting treatment access based on BMI alone.
Bilingual Access at Every Office
Spanish-speaking providers are available at all three of our offices, and our full website is published in both English and Spanish, reflecting the communities we serve across Essex, Monmouth, and Hudson counties.
Egg Freezing at Our Newark Office
Our Newark office, located at 60 Park Place, Suite 210, in Essex County, is open Monday and Wednesday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Two parking options sit within a two-block radius: the Military Park Garage directly across the street, and the One Newark Center deck a short walk away.
Egg freezing patients here work with Dr. Damien or Dr. Perlman from consultation through retrieval, supported by the same CAP-accredited laboratory and CHLOE-assisted embryo monitoring available at our other locations.
Patients throughout Essex County, as well as those traveling from our Shrewsbury (Monmouth County) and Jersey City (Hudson County) locations, can be seen at any of our three offices. New patients can review how a first visit works before scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is egg freezing?
Egg freezing, or oocyte cryopreservation, is a procedure in which eggs are retrieved after ovarian stimulation and preserved through vitrification for potential future use in IVF.
How many eggs should I freeze?
There’s no universal target. Age at retrieval and ovarian reserve both shape the estimate, and even the most cited research on this question describes projections, not guarantees. We review your AMH and antral follicle count to give you a personalized estimate before your first cycle.
How long does the egg freezing process take?
From baseline testing through retrieval, most patients complete one cycle in approximately two to three weeks, though timing depends on individual response to stimulation medication.
Is egg freezing painful?
Most patients describe the stimulation phase as manageable, with mild bloating being the most common side effect. Retrieval is performed under sedation, so patients are not awake for the procedure itself, and post-retrieval discomfort is typically mild and short-lived.
How is egg freezing different from embryo freezing?
Egg freezing preserves unfertilized eggs, while embryo freezing preserves eggs that have already been fertilized with sperm and developed into embryos. Egg freezing keeps future options open without requiring a sperm source at the time of freezing, which is part of why it appeals to patients freezing electively or without a current partner.
Does insurance cover egg freezing in New Jersey?
Coverage depends on the indication. Medically necessary fertility preservation is covered under New Jersey’s mandate for group plans of 50 or more employees; elective preservation is generally not covered. Our insurance and financial resources page has more detail.
Do you offer egg freezing consultations in Spanish?
Yes. Dr. Damien is fluent in Spanish, and our practice maintains a Spanish-language site and bilingual staff, including our Insurance Verification Specialist.
Can I do a virtual consultation before starting egg freezing?
Yes, virtual consultations are available with Dr. Perlman for patients who want to discuss candidacy and timing before their first in-office visit.
Ready to Talk Through Your Timeline
Egg freezing decisions rarely come down to a single data point. Age, ovarian reserve, cost, and personal timing all factor in differently for every patient, which is why we build the conversation around your specific numbers rather than a generic recommendation. Our Newark office gives patients across Essex County the same physician continuity, CAP-accredited lab, and CHLOE-assisted monitoring available at our Shrewsbury and Jersey City locations.
Request a consultation with Dr. Damien or Dr. Perlman to discuss whether egg freezing fits your timeline and goals.