BOSTON -- A local woman is the first in Massachusetts to get pregnant from frozen eggs.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Wednesday that after two miscarriages and four years of fertility treatments that didn't work, the 45-year-old woman, who wants to remain anonymous, said she is thrilled to be pregnant -- and thrilled to be a part of a major medical milestone at the same time.

She is one of 14 New Englanders who are helping scientists at Boston IVF figure out the best techniques to thaw eggs -- something that could help older women or cancer patients extend their childbearing years.

"In the long run, this is going to empower women to gain control of their biological clock," Boston IVF's Dr. Michael Alper said.

Worldwide, a handful of women have conceived using frozen eggs. But scientists say the tricky part isn't freezing the eggs, but keeping them viable once they're thawed.

"It's susceptible to damage, and that's been the major challenge," Alper said.

"When the crystals form, they can destroy the inside of the egg. This process takes some water out of the eggs and replaces the water with a sucrose solution that stops these ice crystals from forming," Boston IVF Scientific Director Dr. Douglas Powers said.

The study is focusing only on donor eggs that are frozen, thawed and then implanted into another woman.

Grateful that cutting-edge science is helping her have a baby, now she's cherishing every moment.

"Everything is great, and the baby was actually moving around, and it looks like a baby," she said.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved egg freezing to treat infertility in the U.S., although it is approved in Europe.