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Need help? We provide a second opinion on all infertility issues. Please send us your medical details by filling in the form at https://www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that we can guide you better.
We routinely use Vitrification Technique to rapidly freeze Blastocysts for all our Patients.
When you come back for your Embryo Transfer , we thaw 1 blastocyst at a time, and then transfer this back to your uterus.
Thawing and transferring just 1 blastocyst allows us to extend the number of
chances that you have to get pregnant with just one fresh Egg Collection and
ICSI/IVF procedure. This increases your cumulative conception rate, and
maximize your chances of getting pregnant.
Freezing (Vitrifying ) Blastoycsts are often considered
challenging due to their Size, Structure and presence of Blastocoelic Cavity.
We have been vitrifying Blastocysts for many years now , and
we routinely get a 100% Survival rate when we thaw them
When we freeze, the Expanded blastocysts are artificially
collapsed using a laser pulse , to remove water from the blastocyst. This dehydration
process is important as it Eliminates the risk of ice crystal formation
completely, which can harm the cells .
Hence , when we vitrify the blastocysts , they are usually in
a collapsed state during cryostorage . When we thaw them, they remain collapsed
during the thawing process and then slowly re-expand with few hours of
incubation post thaw.
As you can see in the picture, the blastocyst which was fully
expanded before freezing, was artificially collapsed before being vitrified. It
remained collapsed post thawing . We then allowed it to remain in culture in
the incubator at 37 C. During this time,
it expanded back fully after a few hours of incubation. The re expansion
usually takes about 1 hour. but usually the blastocysts are incubated for 3-4
hours before transferring them, to allow them to recover from the process of
thawing.
The fact that the blastocyst has re-expanded is convincing
proof that these cells and viable, and this is a healthy blastocyst, which has
a good chance of implanting. Today, sadly many clinics fool patients by
transferring blastocysts which have died after the thaw. Please don’t let your
doctor fool you !
IVF patients know that
one of the most important decisions they need to make is how to find the right
IVF Clinic .
This is a simple
3-step process . It’s tempting to take shortcuts and go to the nearest clinic,
or the cheapest one, but this can be dangerous !
First, you need to use
your head and deploy Information Therapy, so you understand your medical
diagnosis, and what your treatment options are. Do you need ICSI ? TESA ? donor
eggs ? Please don’t underestimate your own intelligence – you are smart, and if
you don’t understand what the doctor is saying, this means the doctor is too
dumb to explain it in simple language !
You then need to
confirm the clinic provides this treatment. You can easily find this
information online, or by email or a phone call, so use these tools to create a
shortlist.
The next step is
harder. You need to use your heart , so you can judge which of the doctors you
have listed is right for you. This is where your gut feeling and intuition
become important !
The doctor who was right
for your friend may not be right for you – one size cannot fit all !
Let’s see a real life
example of how this works out.
Start by emailing the
clinic and see how quickly they respond to your emails. The other test of their
professionalism is to phone the clinic, and assess how helpful the secretary is.
Good doctors hire good receptionists, who treat patients with respect !
You only need to find
out the answer to a single medical question - do they routinely provide photos of embryos to
all their patients , and whether they do only blastocyst transfers . If they refuse
to answer this question, this in itself is a Red Flag , and you should
definitely stay away from the clinic ! If the receptionist doesn’t know what a
blastocyst is , this means the clinic is not a good one , because they haven’t
invested in educating their staff.
You need to short list
at least two IVF clinics , and then do a consultation with both. Interview the
doctor , so you can judge if the doctor will treat you with respect . Is the chemistry
between you and the doctor good ?
Thus, by checking both
the doctor’s competence as well as whether you like the way he thinks and
reassures you, you will be able to choose the clinic which is right for you.
Please don’t let someone else make this decision for you
I asked her to share the photos of her embryos, and this is what she emailed me
These embryos are clearly dead. The cells are dead , dark and necrotic. It has arrested and is not going to develop any further.
The thawing process has killed the blastocyst, perhaps because the embryologist was not skilled enough to freeze embryos well.
However, instead of telling the patient the truth, the doctor lied, and transferred these dead blastocysts back to the uterus, in order to make money.
And IVF doctors can get away with this kind of malpractice because patients don't know enough to be able to ask questions.
At least this doctor shared embryo photos.
The vast majority of IVF clinics don't even bother to do this !
This is why many patients continue to suffer from failed IVF cycles
