What is embryo freezing (embryo cryopreservation)?
While egg freezing is the freezing of unfertilized eggs, embryo freezing is the process of fertilizing the eggs with sperm from a male partner or donor, and then freezing the embryos.
Women may consider freezing their embryos for social preferences, or cancer fertility reasons (where a woman freezes embryos prior to receiving radiation or chemotherapy treatments which may damage her eggs).
How does it work?
Embryo freezing is done by a process called vitrification, which is ‘flash freezing’ to remove water and replace it with a solution to maintain the integrity of the embryo.
How much is embryo freezing?
The costs of freezing and storage at Genesis Fertility Centre can be found here.
How successful is it?
When it comes to fertility, we’re proud to have among the highest success rates in Canada. The survival rate after vitrification is greater than 95%.
View our Vancouver fertility clinic success rates here.
Indications:
- Fertility preservation
- Genetic testing (CCS/PGS/PGD): embryos must be stored to await results
- Storage of surplus embryos from an IVF cycle
- Delay of embryo transfer for medical or other reasons after a fresh IVF cycle
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