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 Infertility Clinic.

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.