Eggs on Ice

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As fertility doctors know, however, success rates are notoriously hard to gauge. An in vitro center can tip the odds by selecting only the most promising candidates, or it can hurt its numbers by specializing in high-risk cases. So even if the latest improved success rates hold up to scientific scrutiny when they are published later this year, it's probably too soon to draw any broad conclusions.

It's also too soon to tell what complications might arise. Even now, nearly 24 years after the first test-tube baby was born and with more than 30,000 children in the U.S. conceived in vitro each year, a controversial study recently suggested that those babies have a higher risk of genetic damage. "We need to have 700 or 800 babies to prove statistically that there is no increase in birth defects [for frozen-egg babies]," says Dr. Michael Opsahl of the Genetics and ivf Institute in Fairfax, Va. Kim doesn't buy that argument: "The bottom line is, Can you produce a baby? We say yes." He adds that the chromosomal tests done on his babies have so far come out normal.

So how does a would-be mom decide what to do? If she is a young woman facing imminent infertility from cancer treatments or other medical problems, then you could argue that even unknown odds are better than none. Otherwise, it's important to understand that many other options exist — from embryo freezing to sperm donation — with much better track records.

Of course, our life-changing decisions are rarely that rational. For some women, even a small chance of having their own baby may be worth all the risks and uncertainties in the world. "When you so desperately want a child, you are willing to take a chance," says Christia Murdaugh. She, for one, is glad she did.