Dr. Zhang in the News: Frozen Embryo Adoption is Trending Upward

As reported by PIX 11 TV News, Dr. John Zhang explains how embryo adoption has become a successful path for helping infertile couples build their families when other fertility treatments fail. The success rate of IVF has led to an increase in the number of excess frozen embryos available to childless couples. There are a reported 60,000 embryos available for adoption.

Frozen Embryo Adoption

Many couples who have successfully built their family have decided to donate their embryos to one in six couples in America who cannot conceive a biological child of their own.

Freezing excess, quality embryos after a fresh IVF cycle will increase a couple’s chances of conceiving in the future. This is not even the best part. Through embryo cryopreservation technology, couples can avoid the financial and physical strain of undergoing multiple fresh IVF cycles. That’s not all. Pregnancy success rates for a Frozen Embryo Transfers (FET) are higher than a fresh transfer because a woman has the opportunity to wait until her uterine lining returns to an ideal state for embryo implantation.

Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)

Through FET, couples can repeatedly try to get pregnant using adopted frozen embryos. If the FET cycle is successful, couples can undergo another procedure at a Couples can plan their family through gender selection

• Couples increase their chances for a healthy singleton pregnancy
• Healthy pregnancies have been achieved after an embryo has been frozen for up to 10 years

Through world class laboratory technology, our pregnancy success rates through FET has increased substantially in recent years. That’s not all. Only high quality embryos are cryopreserve to be later transferred in future FET procedures. This success has made FETs an increasingly popular option to consider before considering a subsequent fresh IVF cycle. Bottom Line: With FET, couples can increase their chance of pregnancy per fresh egg retrieval and ultimately save money by avoiding the expense of another fresh IVF cycle.

FET Procedure

To begin the FET procedure, hormone medication is administered to suppress the woman’s pituitary gland and reduce the chances of unexpected ovulation. Estrogen acts to thicken and mature the uterine lining – like the natural estrogen produced by a developing egg follicle during a normal menstrual cycle.

During estrogen administration, monitoring of the uterine lining is required.

• Transvaginal ultrasound for the doctor to evaluate the thickness of the uterine lining
• Blood tests for the doctor to evaluate the level of estrogen in the blood

Double Benefit of FET:

• Monitoring for timing of transfer during a FET cycle is more flexible than in a fresh IVF cycle
• The FET procedure is much less stressful on patients because the transfer date can be adjusted

Progesterone is a medication administered in preparation for the FET to make the uterine lining receptive to the implantation of the embryo.

• Progesterone matures the uterine lining
• Progesterone creates a window of implantation in anticipation of a set FET date
• Lupron injections are ceased upon the beginning of progesterone administration
• Embryos are scheduled for thaw in the laboratory
• FET is scheduled on a set date
• Progesterone is continued daily to help prepare the patient’s uterine lining for implantation of the fertilized egg – the embryo
• After the embryo transfer, a pregnancy test is scheduled on a date prescribed by the doctor through a blood draw

Healthy pregnancies have been achieved after an embryo has been frozen for up to 10 years. Pregnancy success through FETs is determined by the quality of the frozen embryo.

Single Embryo Transfers

Our fertility specialists promote the practice of Single Embryo Transfer (SET) to reduce health risks associated with multiple pregnancies and births. Cryopreservation of surplus embryos for future FET procedures is encouraged by the fertility specialists at New Hope Fertility NYC – in lieu of repeated, expensive fresh IVF cycles.

Pioneering Vitrification Method of Freezing Embryos

The flash-freezing technique of vitrification makes it possible to ready fresh embryos rapidly for cryopreservation. Using the vitrification method, embryos freeze quickly and damaging ice crystals do not form between cells. We are leaders in embryo cryopreservation. Dr. John Zhang was one of the first doctors in the United States to implement the vitrification method of embryo freezing.

Embryo Adoption Expertise

To schedule your initial consultation about embryo adoption with embryo adoption expert, Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center, call 917.525.5496.