How Fairfax EggBank Excels Alongside Clinical Partners

Written by: Kate Morgan

The field of egg banking is relatively young. Thanks to advancements in a rapid freezing process known as vitrification, the first commercial egg banks began operating around 2012.  

Fairfax EggBank was on the cutting edge of science then and has remained the industry leader by establishing a deep network of clinical partnerships and systems that support consistency, quality, and successful outcomes.  

“We couldn’t be the company we are without our partner clinics,” says Jennifer Hart, Fairfax EggBank’s Director of Embryology Relations. “That’s why it’s important that we make all of our skill and our resources available to every one of our partners.”  

The Power of Clinical Partnerships 

As the science and study of fertility treatment continues to progress, Fairfax EggBank is committed to helping its partners meet an ever-rising standard of care.   

“Over the years, we continue to make incremental improvements,” says Wayne Caswell, Vice President of Laboratory Services. “One of the things we bring to partnerships is the evolution of best practices. As we make tweaks and improvements, we share that knowledge and insight.” 

A Nationwide (and Global) Network 

With a network of more than 450 clinical partners across North America and abroad, Fairfax EggBank can meet intended parents wherever they are. For families in other countries, the broad network means access to reproductive care that might otherwise be difficult to find.  

“We have close to 30 clinics across the country freezing eggs for us,” Hart says, which means donors have convenient access to high-quality care no matter where they are.  

Lab Collaboration and Clinical Alignment 

Even with hundreds of clinical partners, Fairfax EggBank’s large, in-house scientific and embryology team means personalized training and support is available to every laboratory.  

“Having a robust team allows us to put somebody on a plane, fly out to a clinic and actually step into the lab,” says Scientific Director Dr. Wes Edmonds. “And every time I visit a lab, I learn something new I can take to the next. We approach this very genuinely as a partnership. We want to offer our experience to make processes better, and learn from their experiences what we could improve.”  

The processes of egg vitrification and warming are delicate and unforgiving. Once a lab receives eggs from Fairfax EggBank, an embryologist removes each deeply frozen oocyte – or egg cell – from its liquid nitrogen-filled storage container. Then, it needs to be rapidly warmed to body temperature, and the tiniest mistake could endanger its survival. When a Fairfax EggBank scientist visits a lab, they’re examining every detail of the process to guarantee the utmost precision and accuracy.   

Shared Commitment to Quality and Outcomes 

One major way Fairfax EggBank maintains the highest quality standard is through constant screening and monitoring of laboratory data and patient outcomes.  

“One of the things that we pride ourselves on is our data,” Caswell says. “We surveil very aggressively, and that gives us a lot of insight. When a lab’s egg thaw survival rates dip, we notice right away and identify the issue and how to fix it. Knowledge is power.”  

In addition to closely monitoring warming labs’ outcomes, the Fairfax EggBank embryology team also carefully trains the dozens of clinics in more than 17 states working with eggdonors, then tracks their outcomes.  

“We train them on our vitrification protocols, so they are already familiar with our expectations for how eggs are frozen, how they’re handled, how they’re going to be shipped to us. That’s all established before they even ever see the first donor,” says Hart. “Then we have meetings where we look at all the eggs that come in each week. We look at how each cycle went. How successful was stimulation? What did the egg maturity look like?”  

Those clinics are required to submit photos of each individual egg they freeze, adds Edmonds. “We’re talking about thousands of images per year. It’s a lot,” he says. “But we’re constantly looking at outcomes from each of these locations and comparing them to each other and to our baseline.”  

Each freezing clinic receives a quarterly “report card,” Caswell says, plus personal visits from someone on the Fairfax EggBank team annually. “This is a benefit to us, making sure each lab is following our protocols,” he says, “and a benefit to them: everything we do is working to maximize and optimize performance.”  

Options for Clinical Collaboration  

“A few years ago, we began looking at ways to support patients in more isolated areas with few clinical options,” says Edmonds. “And that led to the creation of our LAB+ program.”  

 The program provides clinics with fewer resources, or without the infrastructure to follow Fairfax EggBank’s warming protocols, the opportunity for partnership. With LAB+, the embryo creation takes place in a Fairfax EggBank lab, and the embryos – rather than eggs – are then sent to the clinic.  

The LAB+ embryo creation program is a good fit for clinics with less warming experience or a smaller staff, Caswell explains. “Some clinics have embryologists who are only coming in at certain times, for example. Egg freezing and warming is very precise and very intolerant of deviation. The difference here is they ship us sperm, which is much simpler to handle, and we send back embryos,” he says.  

While Fairfax EggBank always guarantees one blastocyst per cohort of eggs purchased, patients taking advantage of the LAB+ program are actually guaranteed two.  

Supporting Clinics—and Their Patients 

Ultimately, Fairfax EggBank’s responsibility is to the donors who provide their eggs and to the intended parents who hope to use those eggs to achieve a healthy pregnancy. It’s a responsibility that’s foremost in the scientific team’s mind when they’re working alongside clinical partners.  “We’re there as a representative of this intended parent who has purchased these eggs,” Edmonds says. And that means being as invested in a healthy, successful outcome for each patient as their doctor and local clinic is.  

“That’s something we never lose sight of,” he adds. “Their success is our success.”  

Frequently Asked Questions:  

Why do clinics want to work with Fairfax EggBank?

Unprecedented dedication, expert embryology support, and seamless coordination are at the heart of Fairfax EggBank’s clinic partnerships.  

What is Fairfax EggBank’s Blastocyst Development Guarantee?

From each cohort of donor eggs purchased, Fairfax EggBank guarantees at least one embryo that is usable for transfer, testing, or preservation. If all conditions of the guarantee are met and no usable embryo has developed by Day 6, Fairfax EggBank will provide a replacement cohort. For partners enrolled in the LAB+ program, Fairfax EggBank guarantees two blastocysts per purchased cohort.  

How do I become a clinical partner?

Fairfax EggBank welcomes new partnerships! Reach out to the Client Relations team to begin the comprehensive IVF Clinic onboarding process today. 

 About the Author

Kate Morgan is a science journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Popular Science, and many other publications. She lives in rural Pennsylvania, and tends a large garden and small children.