Embryo Freezing (Vitrification)

What is Embryo Freezing?

Embryo freezing is the process, following ovarian stimulation, surgical egg retrieval from the woman’s ovaries, male semen collection, fertilization, and culture, of then freezing any extra healthy embryos. The embryos can be held in deep frozen storage for a long time, and then thawed and transferred to the woman’s uterus when she is ready to get pregnant.

A breakthrough occurred several years ago with in the freezing and thawing technique. It is called Vitrification, and is a technique that ultra-rapidly freezes the embryo while preventing ice crystals forming in the embryos. This technique also allowed egg freezing, which froze very poorly by older methods, to become a viable option.

What is Vitrification?

At Superior A.R.T., we use a method called Vitrification to freeze and cryo-store embryos. Vitrification is an ultra-rapid cooling technique which allows embryos to be efficiently cryo-preserved without any damaging ice formation; therefore this method results in higher rates of thawing survival and pregnancy rates. It allows patients to attempt pregnancy more than once from only one stimulated cycle.

Benefits of Embryo Vitrification