How can you know if your frozen embryos are alive after thawing and are ready to be transferred?

Saiprasad Gundeti, Chief Embryologist, Malpani Infertility Clinic

In IVF treatment, we freeze/ cryopreserve your spare Embryos after your Embryo Transfer to store them as a backup in case your first cycle is unsuccessful, or we freeze all of your Embryos owing to the risk of ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) or if the lining is not optimal .

For subsequent frozen embryo transfer cycles, your frozen embryos must be thawed prior to transfer.

Patients typically have lots of questions and are concerned about the viability of their embryos upon thawing.

How can one know if the embryos have survived post thawing and are ready to be transferred?

At Malpani Infertility Clinic, we culture fresh embryos till day 5 and transfer or freeze embryos at the blastocyst stage for all of our patients.

You can see what embryos should look like at www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/ivf/embryos

This allows us to select the best embryos for transfer and freezing, increasing your chances of becoming pregnant.

When we freeze Blastocysts on Day 5/Day 6, we put Laser Pulse between the Trophectoderm Cells to artificially collapse them. This reduces the amount of water that must be replaced during vitrification, as well as the duration that embryos are exposed to Vitrification solutions (cryoprotectants), hence decreasing the toxicity of cryoprotectants.

Therefore, when we vitrify (freeze) your Blastocyst, it will be in a collapsed (reduced) state.

For Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET), when we thaw your frozen blastocyst prior to the transfer, it will be in a collapsed state; however, after a few hours of incubation, the thawed blastocyst re-expands.

The re expansion of the blastocyst provides confidence that it has survived and is ready for transfer.

We at Malpani Infertility Clinic often thaw blastocysts three hours ahead of the transfer, which provides sufficient incubation time and re-expansion of the blastocyst prior to transfer. 

We routinely show our patients their embryos before transferring them and explain how their embryos recovered after freezing and thawing, which makes them happy and gives them confidence that their embryos have recovered well from the freezing process and are ready for transfer.         

Need help in making the right decision ?

Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !