ivf and egg freezing both involve retrieval of eggs, but in ivf, eggs are then fertilized with sperm in a lab, and the resulting embryos are implanted into the uterus. people may choose to freeze their eggs rather than freeze embryos if they don’t have a partner or sperm donor, or if they have religious or social misgivings about freezing embryos.
testing eggs before they’re implanted to rule out the ones that are less viable is an important part of the process, one of the study’s lead authors concluded.
“our findings shed light on the factors that track with successful births from egg freezing, which include careful screening of embryos to be thawed and implanted,” says study lead author dr. sarah druckenmiller cascante told
the university’s media outlet
. “a better understanding of the live birth rate from egg freezing for age-related fertility decline is necessary to inform patient decision-making.”
many previous studies of egg freezing have been based on mathematical modelling — this is one of the first to use real clinical data, she added.
the study is a small one, the researchers conceded, and more data will be necessary to form definite conclusions.
the rise of egg freezing
egg freezing has quickly risen in popularity over the last decade: 475 american women froze eggs in 2009,
according to the society for assisted reproductive technology
, but in 2016, that number rose to 7,276. it can be an efficient solution for some people, particularly for people with medical conditions that may effect their fertility — sickle cell anemia and lupus, for instance, or those who have received radiation therapy or some cancer treatments. additionally, some
transgender men or non-binary people with ovaries
may want to freeze their eggs before they start taking testosterone.
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