Embryo transfer

Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy. This technique (which is often used in connection with in vitro fertilization (IVF), may be used in humans or in animals, in which situations the goals may vary. Embryo transfer can be done at day two or day three, or later in the blastocyst stage, which was first performed in 1984. Factors that can affect the success of embryo transfer include the endometrial receptivity, embryo quality, and embryo transfer technique. Embryos can be either "fresh" from fertilized egg cells of the same menstrual cycle, or "frozen", that is they have been generated in a preceding cycle and undergone embryo cryopreservation, and are thawed just prior to the transfer, which is then termed "frozen embryo transfer" (FET). The outcome from using cryopreserved embryos has uniformly been positive with no increase in birth defects or development abnormalities, also between fresh versus frozen eggs used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In fact, pregnancy rates are increased following FET, and perinatal outcomes are less affected, compared to embryo transfer in the same cycle as ovarian hyperstimulation was performed. The endometrium is believed to not be optimally prepared for implantation following ovarian hyperstimulation, and therefore frozen embryo transfer avails for a separate cycle to focus on optimizing the chances of successful implantation. Children born from vitrified blastocysts have significantly higher birthweight than those born from non-frozen blastocysts. When transferring a frozen-thawed oocyte, the chance of pregnancy is essentially the same whether it is transferred in a natural cycle or one with ovulation induction. There is probably little or no difference between FET and fresh embryo transfers in terms of live birth rate and ongoing pregnancy rate and the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome may be less using the "freeze all" strategy.