WNBA Stars Sue Bird & Breanna Stewart Harness Reproductive Futures Via Egg Freezing Treatments

SEATTLE, Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM) today announced, in partnership with the WNBA's and Seattle Storm's, Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, the release of episodic video content documenting the star athletes' personal journeys in family planning.

In 2019, while rehabilitating knee and Achilles injuries, respectively, Bird and Stewart pursued egg freezing treatments at SRM. Though in different stages of their careers and lives, being 15 years apart in age – Bird in her 19th season as a pro, and one of the most decorated women's basketball players ever, and Stewart, the 2018 Finals and regular season MVP in the midst of the prime of her career – were both looking to create options for their reproductive futures.

"I think if you are even debating it, freezing your eggs is the obvious choice for any female who has a career," said Sue Bird. "It's important to have the option."

"I ruptured my Achilles and it was probably the lowest point in my career ever, but the fact that I was able to do something for my future and know that now I have eggs waiting for me, whenever I'm ready for them was a big deal for me," added Breanna Stewart. 

SRM, one of the nation's top fertility care centers, partners with their patients to provide customized fertility plans, outlining their estimated investment of time, money, and effort. Today, more and more progressive and competitive employers are partnering with third-party insurance companies that manage inclusive fertility benefit plans, to provide a comprehensive fertility benefit to their employees. In January of 2020, the WNBA and the WNBPA, the union representing its players, agreed to terms of a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement, which meaningfully improved players' salaries, quality of travel, and motherhood and family planning benefits with the addition of an up to $60k reimbursement for veteran players for costs associated with adoption, surrogacy, oocyte cryopreservation fertility and infertility treatments.

"The goal of our egg freezing program at SRM is to put the power of planning into the hands of our patients," said Dr. Nichole Barker. "We support women desiring to create a future fertility opportunity on her own terms."

There are many factors that impact a woman's fertility and over the past year, both Bird and Stewart have openly discussed their decisions to freeze their eggs, citing the need to encourage career-focused women to know and understand their family planning options, as well as to drive awareness and normalize egg freezing amongst women in their respective age ranges and career stages. The video content, available today on SRM's YouTube Channel, provides a more in-depth look at their very personal journeys, how they came to the decision of egg freezing and why they chose to partner with SRM's fertility care providers.

For those interested in learning more about SRM's fertility care services, providers, and financial guidelines, please visit seattlefertility.com or call 1-877-958-3029. Furthermore, SRM can be found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

About Seattle Reproductive Medicine:
Seattle Reproductive Medicine believes that a special blend of medical expertise, pioneering technology, and compassion goes into fertility care. SRM has 14 board certified or eligible doctors and 13 Reproductive Endocrinologists on staff, plus three male fertility specialists. With six locations throughout Washington State in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Tacoma, Everett and Spokane, SRM is caring for patients from all areas of the PNW. On-site laboratories in Seattle and Spokane enable SRM to provide patients with results quickly and expedite their care plans. For more information, please call 1-877-777-6002 or visit seattlefertility.com.

SOURCE Seattle Reproductive Medicine

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http://www.seattlefertility.com