Embryo Thawing and Transfer

During an IVF procedure, the ovaries are stimulated to produce eggs which turn into embryos after fertilization. Some women choose to freeze or cryopreserve the extra embryos for later use. This is called embryo freezing.

In some cases, the doctors suggest the patient freeze all her embryos and not use them immediately due to the absence of uterus lining, which may lead to Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.

Embryo freezing has given various women the opportunity to embrace motherhood whenever they want. It is also being used to rescue those women whose previous IVF cycle was unsuccessful.

Embryo thawing is nothing but the reversal of the embryo freezing process. When a woman is in the position of reusing the frozen embryos, they are taken out of the lab and brought into body temperature to be used. Most of the embryos survive this process.

Embryo transfer is the process of transferring the thawed embryos into the uterus for pregnancy.

• Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome : - When there is an increased chance of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, the doctors may suggest Embryo freezing which will be thawed at a suitable time.
• Delayed Pregnancy : - When a woman wants to delay her pregnancy, she can choose to freeze her eggs or embryos so that she can conceive later.

• Ovulation Induction : - The first step is Ovulation Induction; in this step, medications are given to help your body produce mature eggs that can be used for fertilization.
• Egg Retrieval : - In this step, the mature eggs are taken out of the female body. Medicines are given to help you relax, after which your doctor would use ultrasound to examine the body. Then a thin and hollow tube with a needle on top, attached to a suction device, is inserted into the ovary & follicles to pull out eggs.
• Insemination : - In this procedure, the eggs and the sperm cells are put together in a container to be fertilized. (embryos)
• Embryo Thawing : - The frozen embryos are taken out of the lab and brought to body temperature to be used.
• Embryo Transfer : - In this step, the embryos are injected into the uterus. The pregnancy takes place when the embryos get attached to the uterus lining.

• Conceive whenever you want :- As previously said, women can choose to conceive whenever they want through this process.
• Medical issues :- women who have a severe medical condition and going through tough treatment can freeze their eggs prior to the treatment.

This process doesn’t have any side effects, but sometimes it can happen that the embryos don’t survive the thawing process.