Know More About Infertility Freezing Embryos
Monday 8 September 2008More eggs than usual might be created during In Vitro Fertilization treatment which can be useful as there will in all probability be more healthy fertilized eggs than are needed. The plus side to this is that numerous clinics may give you the choice to freeze and store the embryos just in case they are necessary at a later stage. This can be as part of the In Vitro Fertilization arrangement, or as an extra service for which you may have to pay. It may be the situation that your intervention needs to be tabled for a while after the eggs have been gathered, for a number of grounds, so storing them would be an choice worthwhile looking at.
Having to develop more eggs can be a difficult and often costly procedure so by already having them stored away safely, should you decide to use In Vitro Fertilization again, your embryos will be immediately available. Another advantage to this approach is that you can improve your prospects of conception from one egg collection and avoid the risk of Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation syndrome from further infertility treatments. Embryos can normally be frozen and stored away safely for up to five years, although this can at times be prolonged. For instance, if you or your partner have been diagnosed as sterile and are likely to want to use your fertilized eggs for later tries at In Vitro Fertilisation or if you are at risk of having a baby with a genetically inherited condition.
In certain situations you may be allowed to store your frozen fertilized eggs for up to 10 years. In special conditions it may be possible to store them for even longer than ten years. Remember that if you change your mind about freezing and storing your fertilized eggs just let your clinic know. While the embryos are in storage, the clinic should contact you regularly to check that you want them to remain in storage. If you move home, split up or there are any other change of circumstances, it is always worth letting your fertility clinic know about them. Should you divorce, this does not as a matter of course mean that either person’s approval is removed.
Fertilized eggs are frozen using liquid nitrogen in a process called cryopreservation. Only healthy, fertilized eggs that have been developing normally will be chosen for freezing. It is large to remember that fertilized eggs are fragile and although handled with extreme care, not all of them will survive the freezing and thawing procedure. One way to prepare for this contingency is to unfreeze more embryos than are needed for transfer when the next treatment cycle is due.