Listing the Key Benefits of Delayed Frozen Embryo Transfer

For those who are not familiar with the term- Delayed Frozen embryo transfer, it is a procedure where the fertilized embryos can be kept for later transfer to the woman's uterus during in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Goral Gandhi, one of the most talked about IVF experts around, Transfers of delayed frozen embryos are now more frequent as a result of advancements in the freezing of embryos, especially the vitrification procedure.

She further adds that delaying embryo transfer has advantages over fresh embryo transfer in IVF cycles, including lowering pregnancy risks, allowing the uterine environment to restore to normal following egg harvesting, and enabling genetic testing.

A freeze-all IVF cycle, also known as delayed embryo transfer, involves preserving all of the embryos produced during an IVF round for potential future use.

What is delayed transfer of a frozen embryo?

As per Goral Gandhi IVF, an embryo is a fertilized female egg and it can be frozen, with their transfer and implantation being postponed until a later time, and then transferred back into the woman's uterus during the same ovulation cycle in which her egg(s) were retrieved and fertilized (roughly five days after fertilization). This is known as a fresh-cycle embryo transfer.

Fresh-cycle embryo transfers take place when the woman's uterus is still being treated with fertility drugs, which makes her ovaries more sensitive and her estrogen levels higher, both of which are harmful to effective embryo implantation.

Goral Gandhi Mumbai further affirms that the freezing of embryos produced less viable embryos and had high rates of embryo loss in the past, making waiting embryo transfer until the woman had begun a normal ovulation cycle an impractical choice.

However, with advancements in vitrification (a method of flash freezing) and cryopreservation (freezing and keeping), the success and survival rates of frozen embryos are now almost on par with those of fresh embryos.

Benefits of Delayed Frozen Embryo Transfer

Goral Gandhi adds that when a patient freezes every embryo during the first cycle of IVF, this procedure is known as the "freeze all technique," and it has a number of advantages, such as:

• Enables the uterine environment to return to normal following IVF treatment, creating natural circumstances for embryo implantation.

• Reduces the pregnancy risks associated with IVF cycles using fresh embryo transfer, including low birth weight, premature labor, and preeclampsia.

• Increases the possibility of genetic screening, which significantly raises the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy and birth.

• Enables single embryo transfer and so considerably reduces the probability of multiple gestations (pregnancy of twins or more) and the accompanying health hazards. Preserves all healthy embryos through embryo freezing.

• Reduces or eliminates the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a danger during fresh-cycle embryo transfers, during the transfer cycle.

• is more affordable for numerous transfers than numerous new IVF rounds.

Further information about effective embryo implantation

According to Goral Gandhi Mumbai, in order for an embryo to be implanted successfully, it must be devoid of genetic flaws, timed correctly to be in the uterus during the 8–10 day window of implantation following ovulation, and be in the best possible condition to accept the embryo.

Frozen embryos eliminate the necessity for embryo transfer during the same IVF cycle for induced ovulation when a woman's eggs are extracted. Due to the following factors, the chance of a healthy pregnancy and delivery increases with this extra time or delayed implantation:

The IVF medicines that increase egg production but change the normal environment of the womb give the woman's uterus time to heal. These medicines have an effect on the endometrium, the uterine lining where an embryo must implant.

During her subsequent or future ovulation cycles, the woman can come back for a delayed embryo transplant. Her uterus will be naturally prepared to receive and nurture the embryo and free from the side effects of IVF drugs.