Are babies born from frozen embryos healthy?
The frozen embryo, which is created using a full IVF cycle is a part of IVF treatment, is thawed and transferred into a woman’s uterus, under the guidance of ultrasound. Embryos are transferred into a woman’s uterus by an easy painless procedure.
One or more embryos develop from an IVF cycle and these embryos are usually frozen for later use. Usually, just one or two embryos are transferred into the women’s uterus during an IVF cycle as there are more chances of multiple pregnancies. The remaining embryos are frozen for future use. The frozen embryos used are in day 2 (four-cell stage) – day 5 (blastocyst stage) .
The success of a healthy pregnancy achieved through the Frozen Embryo Transfer process has increased in recent years. Healthy pregnancies are achieved after an embryo has been frozen for up to 10 years. The quality of the frozen embryo determines the success of the pregnancy. The success of frozen embryo transfer has made it a preferred choice to consider before considering another fresh IVF cycle. The success of the frozen embryo has increased substantially because the possibility of pregnancy increases per egg retrieval from the uterus. Babies conceived from frozen embryo transfers at a low risk of low birth weight, pre term delivery and a reduced risk of congenital abnormalities. The risk of birth defects was very low with frozen embryo transfer (perhaps because these frozen embryos usually are tested with PGT). Frozen embryo transfer babies were at lower risk for preterm birth, stillbirth, and low birth weight according to the recent research and therefore frozen embryo transfers may well be healthier than those from fresh embryo transfers