IVF/ICSI Additional Procedures

Embryo Freezing

Surplus embryos may be frozen after IVF treatment for use at a later date to create more siblings, or if the treatment cycle was unsuccessful.

Frozen embryos have a similar or better success rate than fresh embryos in our care for younger patients.

• Frozen embryo replacement cycles show less asynchrony of the endometrium (lining of the womb).
• Success rates increase from 10 to 15% or more compared to aggressive stimulation.
• Ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (with life threatening risks) is almost completely prevented.
• IVF cycles have a much higher success rates.

Blastocyst Culture

A blastocyst is the term given to an embryo that has been growing for 4-6 days. In nature, embryos implant at the blastocyst stage and thus the transfer of blastocyst embryos has an increased chance of implantation.

We aim to perform a blastocysts culture for all patient , though sometimes we may need to transfer or freeze embryos earlier if there are fewer embryos of embryos of less good quality

We feel that every effort should be made to improve the chances of a pregnancy therefore there is no additional charge for blastocyst culture.

Assisted Hatching

Assisted hatching is believed to be associated with an increased pregnancy rate in selected patients. This technique involves the creation of a small hole in the embryo shell (zona) with a laser, or the use of a chemical process which thins and weakens the zona, just before the embryo is transferred into the womb.

It is useful for women whose embryos have been identified as having a zona that appears particularly thick, or is suspected of being harder than normal. This enables the embryo to hatch out and may help implantation. There is very little evidence that assisted hatching will improve pregnancy rates.