Lara Sarkissian, Executive Producer of “Egg Factor”
LOS ANGELES— In honor of National Infertility Week Awareness, Alera Enterprises Inc. announced that CBS U.K. has acquired “Egg Factor,” a gripping, 10-part docu-series tracing the extraordinary lives of men and women involved in creating modern families with donated eggs.
“Egg Factor,” which is set to debut in early 2020, was premiered at Raleigh Studios, in Los Angeles, on May 8. The event was organized by Executive Producers, Lara Sarkissian and Alen Tarassians and their female-powered team along with industry experts.
In addition, featured couple Kacy Andrews and Jack Messitt—parents of Fuller House Stars Fox and Dashiell Messitt—joined the panel to discuss their unconventional and highly-controversial journey to parenthood. The screening was followed by a Q&A and wine reception.
In “Egg Factor,” single mothers, couples, lesbians, and gay men who struggle to conceive naturally are finally able to realize their dream of having a baby with healthy eggs from young women who are willing to go through the grueling egg retrieval process. The journeys are both eye-opening and entertaining with twists, setbacks and surprises, but ultimately ending with a same wondrous result: A new life!
“Now, more than ever, women need one another; this is the very notion that motivated us to put our life savings on the line to create an opportunity for women to empower each other in the most extraordinary way. The true experiences featured in “Egg Factor” not only aim to lift the secrecy and shame surrounding infertility, but to help restore the spirits of discouraged, yet determined couples as they surrender to the DNA or a womb of another’s,” said Lara Sarkissian.
“Of course,” Sarkissian adds, “I couldn’t have done this alone. Like the women I followed, I’m indebted to the endless support from Gifted Journeys, PFCLA, my partner Alen Tarassians and our amazing team at Alera who were instrumental in the development and production of ‘Egg Factor.’”
For millions of intended parents, creating a healthy baby comes with a difficult choice they never imagined: accepting the end of their own genetic lineage and relying on a stranger’s eggs. Egg donation is on the rise with 74% more registered donors in the last ten years. 10,000 babies are born each year using donor eggs, a number that has doubled in just a few years.
In “Egg Factor,” the donations are arranged by Gifted Journeys, a leading egg donation and surrogacy agency. While Doctor Vic Sahakian, of the Pacific Fertility Center of Los Angeles, is the guide on the medical side. He is pioneering, straight talking and makes new life happen.
“Egg Factor” is being distributed worldwide by Rive Gauche television.
About Alera:
Alera Enterprises, is a boutique production company founded in 2001 by Lara Sarkissian and Alen Tarassians with a mission to create new media content that is always ahead of the curve. With hundreds of hours of television programs under their belt, the team at Alera is passionate about all that they produce. From script to screen, commercials to documentaries and apps for mobile devices, ingenuity rules! Be it with Overhualin’ (Transforming dream cars with Chip Foose), Living with Ed (Tackling green living with celeb-environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. ) or with their latest series “Egg Factor” (Redefining the modern family formation), Alera creates groundbreaking programming that simply connects to your soul.
Founders Lara and Alen, a husband and wife team, created “Egg Factor” with the same passion and purpose they put behind their production company. Having conquered infertility in order to start a family of their own, they know first-hand how difficult a feat it can seem to be. In the end, however, it’s always worth the battle. Lara and Alen continue with their mission to help discouraged, yet determined parents turn their dream into reality.
About Gifted Journeys:
All donations in “Egg Factor” were arranged by Gifted Journeys, a leading egg donation and surrogacy agency headed by Wendie Wilson-Miller and Tina Barbagallo, both of whom donated eggs of their own multiple times. Wendie Wilson-Miller, Founder and CEO of Gifted Journeys is an award-winning author internationally recognized for her works on LGBT in Insider’s Guide to Egg Donation: A Compassionate and Comprehensive Guide For All Parents-to-Be. Further, Wednie co-founded Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy, where she currently holds the title of Vice President.
About PFCLA:
The medical treatments on “Egg Factor” are led by Dr. Sahakian of Pacific Fertility Center of Los Angeles. Dr. Sahakian has performed over 10,000 IVF procedures and is responsible for the birth of over 7,000 babies all over the world. Hundreds of same sex partners have also been helped by Dr. Sahakian in achieving their dream of building a family through egg donation and surrogacy. He, specializes in treating patients with advanced maternal age and is responsible for the oldest woman on record to have given birth at the age of 67.