7Reasons to consider frozen embryo transfer

A procedure followed after an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, Embryo freezing (fertilized egg freezing) is done when there are additional embryos that you want to preserve. However, even if you aren’t ready for IVF, you may choose to freeze embryos rather than eggs for future IVF treatments.

Another consideration to be kept in mind is the sperm donor. If you do not currently have a partner or do not want to use an anonymous sperm donor, you may choose egg freezing rather than embryo freezing. 

Also, be aware that even if you do have a partner, if you and your partner separate, you may no longer have permission to use the preserved embryos. In some cases, to keep your options open, you may choose to freeze both embryos and eggs.

Now that we have got that out of our way, let’s move on to why embryo freezing is preferred today by couples who intend to start a family.

So, without much further ado, let’s list out the benefits of freezing the embryos.

1. Beating the Biological clock –In a day and age when couples go for a child in later stages of life, a frozen embryo gives a better chance at pregnancy even for women above the age of 35. In fact the same has seen a significant amount of success when it comes to having a child in late 30’s.

2. Less Medication– As the embryos are already frozen, the patient needs to undergo less medication when compared to going in for a fresh embryo transfer. Instead of stimulation medication, patients use estrogen and progesterone to thicken the lining of their uterus in preparation for the embryo transfer to allow implantation. Since the stimulation phase was done in a prior cycle, there is also no egg retrieval requiring anesthesia.

3. Less Stress - FET cycles are often less stressful than fresh cycles because factors like stimulation response, egg development, and embryo growth were considered during the fresh cycle. We at MMC IVF analyse and freeze onlyhigh-quality blastocyst-stage embryos giving patients a significant chance of success with a FET cycle.

4. Reduced Costs – IVF can be costly. If your first cycle doesn’t play out the way you expected it to, having a batch of extra frozen embryos to use will mitigate the need to go through another round of fertility medications—which can be costly. This is where freezing the embryo helps. The initial fresh cycle is used to freeze embryos so that you do not have to undergo the procedure again thus resulting in cost savings.

5. Not leaving it to chance - One of the benefits of IVF embryo freezing, is knowing in advance the number of embryos available to you. Not all fertilized eggs will turn into embryos, so by freezing embryos versus eggs, you are reducing the risk of not preserving enough eggs for later IVF treatments.

6. Pre-implantation genetic testing – In case there is genetic disorder which the mother fears passing on to the child, one can also exercise the option having the embryos undergo genetic screening before they are frozen. Embryos that do not have genetic disorders can then be screened out and used for uterine implantation purposes. This is to ensure the infant’s health is in prime condition which also adds up as another benefit of embryo freezing.

7. Multiple chances at Pregnancy-If the transfer of one frozen embryo fails to result in a pregnancy, any remaining embryos can be transferred to increase the chance of pregnancy occurring. Having multiple frozen embryos available for use over an extended period of time is an advantage only provided by cryopreservation.

Some points to consider while going for a frozen embryo transfer

At the time of transfer, the frozen cycle does require less of your body and less money out of your pocket, but unless you are using a donor egg and this is your first attempt at IVF, you will still need to go through the same steps it takes to get the fresh embryos though the transfer in a future date completely depends upon you.

When it comes to fresh vs. frozen embryo transfers, a variety of studies have been performed. For example, some studies supporting frozen embryos favor women between the ages of 35 and 42. These women chose to freeze their eggs when they were younger, therefore the eggs took to their bodies more successfully than if they had gone through the process of extracting and fertilizing them at their current age. Other results highlight that in a fresh cycle process the uterine lining is exposed to unnaturally high levels of estrogen and progesterone which could interfere with the fertilization process. Furthermore, some ‘ovarian hyperstimulation' commonly occurs after receiving hormone treatments and using fresh embryos. This tends to go away very quickly, yet in a few cases has become more severe with serious consequences. Another consideration was highlighted by the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine where they found a “2.8 percent miscarriage rate following CCS with a frozen transfer compared to 18.5 percent in the fresh transfer group.”

Making Your Decision

In the end, going for a fresh embryo or frozen embryo transfer is a personal choice and varies from individual to individual. In order to make your decision, talk to your doctors and fertility specialists and consider all of the steps carefully.

To lead you on the right path of IVF treatment frozen embryo transfer, MMC IVF is offering you an opportunity to consult with a world-class fertility specialists for a one-on-one discussion. All you have to do is make an appointment with us at (phone number) or write to us at [email protected]. We will get back to you promptly. The best part is that you can stay at home and talk to our specialists online. In addition, you can request for a second opinion on the diagnosis and treatment. Reach out to MMC IVF and we will fix an appointment for it.