Another study has shown that frozen embryos are as good as fresh embryos when it comes to IVF. In fact, they may actually be better at producing live births.
We have already discussed a recent study which showed that frozen embryos are as effective as fresh and it is encouraging that another study has confirmed those results.
The Study
The latest study was carried out in China and followed 2,157 women who were undergoing IVF. The women were aged between 20 and 35 and were split into two groups. One group received a fresh embryo transfer and the other a frozen embryo transfer. A maximum of two embryos were transferred at a time.
The researchers found that live birth rates (defined as a live birth after 28 weeks) for the women who received fresh embryos was 50.2%. The women who had frozen embryos transferred had live birth rates of 48.7%.
The small difference between the two was not “statistically significant”. In other words, based on the percentages involved the researchers did not believe that 1.5% indicated a difference in effectiveness.
What is even more interesting is that the researchers found that the women who received frozen embryos experienced fewer miscarriages in the second trimester of pregnancy. The frozen embryo group suffered a miscarriage in 1.5% of cases compared to 4.7% of cases in the fresh embryo group.
In addition the frozen embryo group had lower rates of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (a potentially serious condition that we talked about in our Ultimate Guide to IVF). The fresh embryo group developed the condition 2% of the time whereas the frozen embryo group developed it in just 0.6% of cases.
If you would like to read it the study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Transfer of Fresh versus Frozen Embryos in Ovulatory Women. New England Journal Of Medicine, 378(2), 126-136).
Does this study mean that you should freeze embryos before having them transferred? No. It does however show that the freezing process is safe, effective and offers an additional option to IVF patients.
Once again, it would be great to hear about your IVF experiences with frozen embryos.