

When you are ready to begin a FET cycle, contact your IVF nurse coordinator. What does a frozen embryo transfer cycle involve? There is no evidence that frozen and thawed embryos result in a greater number of miscarriages or abnormalities. If an embryo vitrified at the blastocyst stage is thawed and transferred, it has approximately the same success rate as a fresh embryo. If they are frozen at the earlier stages by ‘slow freezing’, approximately 80% survive the freezing and thawing process. Frozen embryo survival rates are more than 90% if embryos are frozen by ‘vitrification’ at the blastocyst stage (5-6 days after fertilisation). Some embryos (or possibly all embryos) will not survive the freezing and thawing process if cells are damaged. The pregnancy success rate depends on a number of factors, including the woman’s age. What are the success rates of frozen embryo transfer? It is also increasingly common for the fertility specialist to recommend that we freeze all of a patient’s embryos because the more natural environment in the uterus during a later cycle may have a better chance of establishing a pregnancy.įreezing embryos is also a potential avenue for a woman who wants to postpone pregnancy until her late 30s or early 40s but who understands she may not have suitable eggs of her own by then. Occasionally a woman having IVF treatment will be advised to freeze all her embryos and not to transfer any immediately if the lining of the uterus has not developed to a suitable stage or if she is at risk of developing ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS). As only one (or two) will be transferred to the uterus immediately, the rest can be frozen to use in another IVF cycle if the first transfer does not result in a pregnancy, or at a later time to create a sibling. When ovaries are stimulated in a typical IVF or ICSI cycle, they produce multiple eggs for insemination and this often leads to a number of healthy embryos being created. When is a frozen embryo cycle recommended?

The process is a routine procedure at Life Fertility Clinic. What is a frozen embryo transfer cycle?Ī frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle means thawing one or more embryos (frozen during a previous treatment cycle) and transferring that embryo (or embryos) to the uterus in order to try to establish a pregnancy. This fact sheet explains what is involved in the frozen embryo transfer process. If you are undergoing IVF and have had one or more embryos frozen, you may wish to use them in a future cycle.
