Let's talk about Embryo Freezing or Cryopreservation, which will preserve your dream of having a future child.

Imagine that you and your partner are dreaming of having a child and are undergoing treatment for it. Perhaps the treatment is successful and you have a few extra embryos left. Or, you may want to protect your chance of becoming a mother in the future before undergoing treatment due to a medical condition. This is where this valuable technology called 'embryo freezing' comes to our rescue. Let's talk about it simply.

What is Embryo Freezing?

Simply put, embryo cryopreservation is the process of storing an egg, or embryo, that has been fertilized by a sperm, at a very low temperature for future use. It is an important part of fertility treatments that help those who are infertile.

Now you may be wondering, are egg freezing and embryo freezing the same thing? No, there is a slight difference.

• Egg Freezing: This involves freezing unfertilized eggs.
• Embryo Freezing: This involves freezing an egg that has been fertilized by a sperm, that is, an embryo.

In what situations do you do this?

There are several reasons why embryo freezing may be considered. It is often done after treatments such as IVF (in vitro fertilization) .

• After IVF treatment: During IVF treatment, several eggs are usually retrieved and combined with sperm to create several embryos. However, only one or two are implanted in the uterus at a time. Instead of destroying the remaining good embryos, they can be frozen. If the first attempt is not successful, you can use a stored embryo instead of having to go through the difficult process of retrieving eggs all over again.

• Fertility Preservation: Imagine a woman has a disease like cancer and needs to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy. These treatments can damage her ability to have children. So, before starting those treatments, she can use her partner's or a donor's sperm to create embryos and store them for the future.

• Delaying pregnancy: Some people decide to delay having a child for personal reasons, such as education or career advancement. Since fertility declines with age, having embryos prepared and stored in advance may be a good option.

• For embryo donation: After having the number of children they want, some people choose to donate the remaining embryos to other childless couples or for medical research.

What do you need to know before this process?

Since this is a big decision, you should discuss everything with your doctor and sign legal documents before the procedure begins. These consent forms usually clearly state these details.

Also, an embryo starts as a single cell and continues to divide. So the doctor will decide when is the best time to store it. Usually, it is stored at these two stages:

• Cleavage stage: About 72 hours after fertilization, the single cell divides into 4-8 cells.
• Blastocyst stage: After 5-7 days, the embryo divides to 200-300 cells.

How do you freeze embryos?

There are two main methods for freezing embryos: vitrification and slow freezing .

The most commonly used method today is a rapid method called vitrification.

Regardless of which storage method you use, the embryos are placed in special containers, similar to small straws, that you have provided with your details.

What are the benefits and risks of this?

As with any medical procedure, there are both benefits and risks.

The most important thing is that a child born from a frozen embryo is not at increased risk of birth defects or health problems.

How successful is frozen embryo transfer?

This process is often successful, but the success rate can vary from person to person, depending on several factors.

• Mother's age: The most important thing here is the mother's age when the egg is retrieved to create the embryo .
• The overall health of the parents.
• Other problems that can affect fertility include: Having conditions like uterine fibroids and endometriosis.
• Success/failure of previous treatments.

What if you change your mind?

This is a mutually agreed upon process. You or your partner can change your mind at any time during the process. If either of you disagrees, the process cannot legally proceed.

If someone decides they don't want the embryos after they've been stored, the clinic can give them some time to reconsider. But if the decision doesn't change, the embryos are removed from storage and left to naturally decay.

What happens to unused embryos?

If you decide not to use the stored embryos, you have several options:

• Removing them: The clinic removes them from storage and allows them to thaw, which will cause them to lose their viability.
• Donating to someone else: You can donate to another couple who do not have children to adopt a child.
• Donating to research: Donations can be made to research to advance medical science.
• Donating for educational purposes: Donations can be made to train future doctors in this field.

This is a very personal and sensitive decision, so you and your partner should make this decision together, and if necessary, after talking to your doctor.

Embryo Freezing, Cryopreservation, IVF, Fertility, Childbirth, Pregnancy, Women's Health, Fertility Preservation