Embryo Cryopreservation

Mayflower Women's Hospital's In Vitro Fertilization laboratory is a national and world leader in embryo cryopreservation, or the freezing of embryos. More than 70 percent of patients entering the Mayflower Women's Hospital program have extra embryos available for freezing. Mayflower Women's Hospital's pregnancy rate from the transfer of frozen-thawed embryos is 45 percent, compared with a 19 percent national average. Mayflower Women's Hospital's high pregnancy rates with frozen embryos allow couples to have a greater than 65 percent chance of pregnancy from one egg retrieval or egg harvest procedure. A frozen embryo transfer is much less costly and less invasive than an egg retrieval. Mayflower's high success rates with frozen embryos lowers the overall cost of infertility treatment and the time away from work for couples to achieve their end goal, a healthy baby.

To decrease the likelihood of multiple pregnancy, it is important to limit the number of embryos transferred in each treatment cycle. High success rates with frozen embryos permits transfer of fewer embryos in the fresh retrieval cycle without wasting the nontransferred embryos. In general women under 30 should have only two embryos transferred per treatment cycle. Women 30-35 should have no more than three embryos transferred. Women over 35 should usually have no more than four embryos transferred. Restricting the number of embryos transferred in this manner decreases the incidence of high-order multiple pregnancies, that is triplets or more. Limiting the incidence of high-order multiple pregnancies is important to protect the health of the mother and babies born from IVF.