Last week, over a coffee with a friend and I heard the term ‘the egg whisperer’ for the first time. “You have to introduce your readers to Dr Aimee Eyvazzadeh MD, the egg whisperer” he said.
“Dr Aimee Eyvazzadeh MD is an obstetrics and gynecology doctor, specializing in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and is one of America’s most well known fertility doctors known as the Egg Whisperer!”
As soon as I got home, I opened my laptop and found out everything I could about Dr Aimee who is helping empower women by making them more aware of their personal fertility levels, in turn, allowing them to make better, more informed decisions about their future.
She has been featured in magazines like People and Marie Claire, and has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Morning and Fox Network, to discuss her egg freezing parties; a genius way to capture the attention of women by promoting advances in technology alongside cocktails and mingling.
Dr Aimee, thank you for talking to us. We read a brilliant line on your website that says that you never want to hear a woman say: “If I had known 10 years ago that my egg reserves were running low, I would have done things differently”.
So at what age would you recommend testing your eggs?
I recommend that every woman get their levels checked by the time they are 25 years old
Most women have a PAP smear by age 21. We spend enough time at the gynecologist’s office that a simple blood test to be more fertility aware should and could be done. An AMH level is an easy test to do that can guide someone about their ovarian reserve.
The higher the AMH the more eggs a woman has. This is what should be a thing of the past: A young woman who is ready to start her family at 31, stops her birth control pills to find out she ran out of eggs. There’s no reason why a woman should ever be standing at the “egg cliff” with the technology we have today. Eggs don’t just disappear. We slowly lose them normally over time. It’s a natural process. What women seem to be taught by the mainstream media is that women can get pregnant later and later and that technology can help. The reality is that it’s increasingly hard to get pregnant over 35 for a number of reasons and most women can’t get pregnant after 40 and for some women it is over 30. Without checking levels, talking to a fertility expert, and doing a fertility genetic test, you really don’t have a full picture about your fertility. Your fertility isn’t skin deep, it doesn’t matter how great you look on the outside and having regular cycles doesn’t imply fertility. Just because your mom got pregnant at 22 naturally without help doesn’t mean a thing for you at 37. Your fertility genes come from both your mom and dad and clearly you can’t ask your dad about his age at menopause.
At what age were you aware of your own egg quality?
My thesis project for my degree in fertility was on AMH and how it can predict menopause. As you can imagine, I’ve been tracking it. Not only did I check my own fertility but I also checked my sister’s and froze her eggs! And before we planned our fourth pregnancy, I checked my AMH level to know more.
I went into fertility medicine because my mother suffered greatly from being recurrently unlucky. I hate the term “pregnancy loss” because it assumes a woman couldn’t find her pregnancy. Every miscarriage matters to a family and egg quality for many women plays a big role with this. Because of her suffering, I chose to dedicate my life at a very young age not only to becoming an ObGyn but to fertility medicine to help women who suffer through getting pregnant without bringing a baby home. Few things in life are worse than having this happen to you repeatedly.
The AMH test is something I recommend to:
- Women by age 25
- Women who have just had their first baby not sure when they should plan their next. I have many patients coming to me after easily getting pregnant with baby number one on their honeymoon even only to not be able to have baby #2 because of very normal ovarian aging. They waited 3 years only to find out that they shouldn’t have waited at all. It’s a hard lesson to learn in retrospect but with today’s technology and tests we can do for women, we certainly aren’t at that point that we can guarantee human life or biology but we can certainly guide women based on their levels and personal genetic profile.
What do you recommend for men?
I not only checked my AMH and became aware of my fertility but if you’re a female fertility doctor in a heterosexual relationship, chances are that you checked your partner’s semen analysis before you conceived too! I not only checked my husband’s semen analysis but I also did a family prep screen and cancer genetic screen on him. It would not have changed my decision to have children with him but I used the information in the way it was intended: so we can do everything we could to have the healthiest pregnancies possible and to get ahead of cancer.
Do you think children should be taught about their fertility in high school?
Absolutely. I think that there are things that teens and young adults do that hurt their fertility and they don’t even know it. The most obvious things are: unprotected intercourse and smoking tobacco products. If we use the opportunity to teach them about preventing pregnancy and at the same time encourage healthy reproductive behaviors, we will successfully have a generation of adults that will feel empowered and will be proactive about procreation.
What are your thoughts on companies like Apple and Facebook encouraging employees to freeze their eggs?
I would say it’s about time! Egg freezing is nothing new but since Apple and Facebook are covering it, it has now become a part of our dinnertime conversations. They have done a tremendous job making something near and dear to my heart less of a taboo topic to talk about. I don’t think they are encouraging employees but they are making the financial aspect of egg freezing less of a barrier.
Can you tell us about your egg freezing parties!
Home shopping parties are very popular here and I have many friends that are excited and passionate about what they sell. I found myself going to these parties to support my friends to only be asked fertility questions and that’s where the concept came from. Every home shopping party I attend always turns into a fertility awareness party for me. So the concept of the party is purely selfish: I get to talk to people about something I love, fertility and the best part is, no one buys a single thing. You leave with a fun tote bag, egg whisperer t-shirt and book (It’s about Time by Rachel Lehman Haupt) and don’t spend a dollar. You spend time learning about fertility and that’s all.
Will you be bringing your parties over to the UK?
You invite me and I will come! Let’s do it! Let’s get the party started!
You recently started your own fertility show called “The Egg Whisperer Show”. Viewers can tune in live here and ask you questions relating to fertility. What sort or response have you had to your show? (you mentioned you had 14k views!! Wow!)
I started the show a couple months ago and the response has been great. My mission is to provide fertility facts to people all over the world who may not have access to a fertility doctor. Through social media and YouTube the message can be heard anywhere around the world, as long as someone has an Internet connection.
Where can people find you?
My office is in the San Francisco Bay Area. My website is Draimee.org and I welcome anyone with questions for me to email me so I can read and answer their fertility questions during my show. I also take live calls during the show as well. The call-in number is at: eggwhisperer.com/show
Thank you Dr Aimee!!!
If you would like to know more on this subject, you can send a question to Dr Aimee on email@eggwhisperer.com or to askanexpert@ivfbabble.com (putting Dr Aimee’s name in the subject box.)
