Background: A mother’s undivided love has the power to positively shape individuals and cultures. The gift of motherhood is undoubtedly the most precious one but for many women battling infertility issues, conceiving can be difficult. Thanks to medical science and technology like the frozen embryo transfer (FET), you can now embrace motherhood. FET is a type of invitro fertilization (IVF) where a cryopreserved embryo created in a full IFV cycle is transferred to a woman’s womb. The embryo in such case is frozen and then transferred. This Mother’s Day, Dr Rohini Devi of Motherhood Fertility Center answers some frequently asked questions on FET.

"Having children puts the whole world into perspective. Everything else just disappears.” – Kate Winslet

Many couples who come to us to beat their infertility issues have many questions to ask the health professionals. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions:

Who can opt for frozen embryo transfers?

Several studies conducted by the infertility specialist at our clinic showed that IVF treatment works for women between the ages of 18 to 50 years. Generally, younger women have better quality eggs, but this is not always true. Women, who have suffered multiple miscarriages, endometriosis, or early miscarriage, have different success rates as compared to those women who have other infertility issues, and this may depend upon the quality of the eggs. But, the earlier a patient visits IVF fertility centre and begins the IVF treatment, the higher the probability that her eggs will result in embryos and ultimately result in pregnancy.

How are eggs collected, fertilized and then frozen?

Female patients go through IVF hormone treatment at the beginning of their first cycle. This stimulates the production of eggs post which we collect multiple eggs rather than just the single egg that is released during a natural, unstimulated cycle.

Several studies conducted by the infertility specialist at our clinic showed that IVF treatment works for women between the ages of 18 to 50 years. Generally, younger women have better quality eggs, but this is not always true.

How does the IVF with fresh eggs differ from FET process?

The only difference between frozen eggs and using fresh in a cycle of IVF treatment is that the woman will not have to go through ovarian stimulation at the starting of the frozen embryo donation process and the man will not be required to deliver his sperm. The man (or the sperm donor) has already played his responsibility and is not needed again. This is also true for the woman (or egg donor), but still, to encourage thickening of the endometrial lining, she will need to go through hormone treatment. This is the part of the IVF treatment cycle that prepares the womb for embryo implantation or embryo donation.

What happens after the FET procedure?

The remaining steps of the cycle of IVF treatment are exactly the same. By this time the patient conceiving via IVF process will be familiar with the processes and procedures that will happen over the next few days. It can be fascinating to take a pregnancy test in the next ten days after the frozen embryo donation process, but it is recommended that in IVF treatment, it is best to wait and take a test on the fourteenth day post transfer.

What are the chances of success with FET?

The success rate of FET does not differ in any significant way from those of fresh embryo transfers. Because of the development in modern fertility treatment, 95% of unfreezing blastocysts are suitable for transfer. Of course, IVF treatment carefully unfreezes each frozen embryo transfer blastocyst before continuing with the next stage of the cycle. It means that only viable, high-quality blastocysts can be transferred.

Wishing a very happy Mother’s Day to all!

Looking for more articles on Mother’s Day? Check out our other articles:

Mother’s Day Special: My heroines
Mother's Day & motherhood: My reflections as a 'mompreneur'
My mother's role in my life & business journey

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