Frozen Embryos may Address Long-term IVF Health Issues

Women opting for IVF treatment would soon get rid of the traumatic drug therapy, for the researchers from Oxford Fertility Unit have found that freezing the embryos can significantly

Women opting for IVF treatment would soon get rid of the traumatic drug therapy, for the researchers from Oxford Fertility Unit have found that freezing the embryos can significantly reduce long-term health risks.

The researchers found a drastic improvement in the success rate of fertility treatment using frozen embryos.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - Introduction To Infertility and Reproduction
Encyclopedia section of medindia gives a brief introduction to infertility and reproduction

The procedure reduces the need for repeated cycles of hormone therapy and egg extraction, which can be traumatic and result in serious side effects such as polycystic ovary syndrome.

The researchers found that woman have 50 per cent increase chances of becoming pregnant from a single IVF cycle, if she stored any spare embryos that doctors deemed suitable for freezing.

During the study, the researchers analysed the pregnancy rates among 1,290 couples having IVF treatment at the clinic, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington.

Egg Donation
The term ‘Egg Donation’ is commonly used to refer to the contribution of her eggs by a woman to another, who is incapable of producing her own.

The findings revealed that overall pregnancy rate increased from 40 per cent to 59 per cent among women under 39, receiving IVF with frozen eggs and from 31 per cent to 49 per cent among women over 39.

"The worst part of IVF for a couple is going through a fresh treatment with all the drugs, injections, costs and risk this entails," the Independent quoted Dr. Tim Child, a fertility specialist at the clinic as saying.

Invitro Fertilisation
During IVF fertilization takes place invitro, in an incubated petri dish. The resulting embryo is transferred back to the uterus on Day 3 at the 6-8 cell stage. Sometimes the embryo transfer in done at the blastocyst stage on Day 5. The embryo is drawn into a specialized catheter along with a small amount of culture medium and is transferred to the uterus.

"By looking at the success rate per egg collection, including the use of all spare frozen embryos created, we can clearly demonstrate the significant benefits for couples and clinics on focusing on running a good freezing programme," he added.

Women having IVF treatment should be offered the chance to freeze their "spare" embryos instead of discarding them because it was safer and more cost effective than repeatedly using fresh embryos, said Dr Child.

Artificial Insemination - Milestone Types Intrauterine FAQs
Artificial Insemination is a medical procedure usually used to treat infertility. In this procedure, sperm is placed into a female's vagina, uterus or fallopian tubes by artificial means.

It might avoid the expense and the risks of over-stimulating the production of further eggs by hormones, which can lead to fertility complications.

Source-ANI
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