Inside the doors of the San Diego Fertility Center, program manager Jenna Lake will tell you getting pregnant is a serious issue.
She personally knows how her patients feel.
"I actually had a miscarriage at 36 and that was the first indicator that we were going to need some assistance,” Lake said.
After in-vitro fertilization and other options failed, Lake embraced the idea of finding an egg donor to get pregnant.
"It was a challenging decision to make - but it was the right one." Lake said.
Her son, Haven, is now four years old and the love of his parents' lives.
Lake now finds joy in helping other patients find egg donors to complete their own families -- even if they choose to keep it secret.
Lake's doctor, Susanna Park, says women come to the San Diego Fertility Center from around the world to receive donor eggs.
But, she says it’s something most don't talk about.
"For a lot of patients, it's something they've never heard about," said Park.
Dr. Park wishes more people would discuss the issue, because she believes it's how many celebrities over 40 actually got pregnant.
"One of the problems with hearing these Hollywood stories is it gives a lot of patients false hope that you can be fertile well into your late 40s and that's simply not true,” Dr. Park told NBC 7.
She says, on average, finding an egg donor can be less expensive than adoption.
Lake says that for her, the gestational connection was invaluable.
"That is what I say to patients, it’s the gestational connection. The ability to be half the male partner is part of the equation is part of the family.”
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