Here are the steps to using cryopreservation with IVF to create an embryo:
Sperm cells and embryos have been successfully used from a frozen state for decades.
The use of frozen egg cells is a recent advance in technology.
At this time, we can estimate that there are millions
of children who have been born through the use of frozen sperm and from
frozen embryos. The number of babies born from frozen eggs is nearing
1,000 in the world.
About Sperm Freezing
The techniques used to freeze sperm are highly successful and have been in use for many years.
The patient will need to produce ejaculate into a
sterile container in a clinical setting or, in certain cases of
extremely low to zero sperm count, his sperm cells will be surgically
retrieved under anesthesia. The sperm is then cryopreserved for later
use in fertilizing an egg cell.
About Egg Freezing
Techniques to freeze eggs are newer; so fewer babies
have born so far from frozen eggs than from frozen sperm. However,
other parts of the process (ovulation induction, egg retrieval, and
embryo creation via IVF-ICSI) have already proven to be very successful
for more than 20 years.
The patient will be administered fertility medication
prompting her ovaries to produce more than one egg. The eggs will be
retrieved via needle aspiration while the patient is under sedation. At
Baby Later, we use the vitrification process to cryopreserve egg cells.
For more information on vitrification, please read this newsletter (Timing is Everything: When You Want a Baby Later) from our affiliate, Houston Fertility Center
What Happens Later?
When the patient has made the choice to attempt
pregnancy, he or she will notify us and the exciting process of
assisted reproductive technology begins. Some men who have frozen sperm
will utilize IUI, while others will depend on IVF to create pregnancy.
Women who are ready to use their frozen eggs will use IVF with ICSI.
To make use of frozen sperm, the semen is thawed and
then either used with intrauterine insemination (IUI) or
intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), depending on several
individual factors.
For women, ICSI is used to inject each thawed egg cell with a single sperm cell.
IVF is the acronym for in vitro fertilization, which
literally means "fertilization in glass." It is a highly successful
method for creating pregnancy. Sperm and egg cells may be introduced in
a glass petri dish for the purpose of fertilization, or eggs may be
injected with sperm via ICSI. Resulting healthy embryos are then
transferred to the mother's uterus where one will hopefully implant and
become a baby.