IVF Maximizes Parenthood Choices

Crucial choices on the road to parenthood:
The Frozen Embryos Dilemma
 

By Dr. Michael Doyle, Connecticut Fertility Associates

Most IVF treatments which use an egg donor and a gestational carrier are successful on the first effort. One of the main reasons for this is that more than enough embryos are produced from each donor’s stimulation. In fact, a typical egg donor will produce 15-20 mature eggs, and most of them will fertilize. Since the usual number of embryos which we transfer back into the carrier is two, this “abundance of riches” therefore also raises some other issues which are important to think about.

The first question is rather straightforward – what should you do with your “extra” embryos? Basically, you can either freeze them for the future, or you can discard them at the time of the transfer. Most people choose to freeze their extra embryos, primarily because pregnancy is not 100% guaranteed, and the frozen embryos represent a “contingency plan.” In other words, if their carrier does not become pregnant with the first transfer, the subsequent efforts are far simpler and less expensive because it is not necessary to restart at the beginning with the donor. Even if a pregnancy does occur, frozen embryos can be used years later to produce a sibling, thereby eliminating the need to reinitiate the egg donation process. This is particularly appealing in two situations: when the donor is no longer available or interested in donating again, and parents seek to achieve siblings who share the same maternal genes as their first child; and in instances where the eggs were originally fertilized by sperm from two dads, and the dads now desire to ensure that the second pregnancy results from embryos arising from the dad who is genetically unrelated to the first baby.

However in many situations, the frozen embryos are never needed because the initial treatments are successful, and the family building journey is complete. In those cases, particularly the ones which lead to twins, families often find themselves with extra “frozen” embryos which they do not wish to use. This leads to the second, and more complex question – what can you do with frozen embryos which you don’t want to use?

At Connecticut Fertility Associates, patients choose one of these four options. They can:

1. Donate their embryos to CFA’s Embryo Adoption Program (from which they will be anonymously assigned to another couple or person) or directly designate their embryos to another couple or individual of their choice.

2. Dispose of their embryos.

3. Allow them to be used for research or teaching purposes but never implanted.

4. Transfer them to another fertility center or long term storage facility.

As long as one of these four choices feels right to you, or at least is a reasonable possibility, I strongly encourage embryo freezing at the time of embryo transfer. In the best case scenario, these frozen embryos are never even used, and come to represent little more than an unopened “insurance policy.” In other instances, they lead to highly sought after first and even sibling pregnancies following a small fraction of the original physical, emotional and financial investment.

For more information, contact Dr. Doyle at Connecticut Fertility Associates (michael.doyle@CTfertility.com) or John Weltman at Circle Surrogacy (john@CircleSurrogacy.com). Both centers have outstanding track records and a demonstrated commitment to serving both heterosexual and gay clients.

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