Lister Fertility Clinic
Chelsea Bridge Road SW1W 8RH London
Embryo freezing
Fertility treatment using frozen embryos
Excess good quality embryos can be frozen instead of being transferred to the womb
What is Embryo Freezing?
Embryos can be frozen as part of a standard IVF cycle where any excess embryos of good quality not transferred are frozen or they can be frozen as a stand-alone process for later use for fertility preservation purposes.
Any embryos frozen can be thawed and transferred in a future cycle that is a much simpler process. Often this involves only monitoring of a natural cycle for ovulation at which point embryo thaw and transfer can be appropriately timed (without the need for significant drug treatment or the invasive collection procedure.) If the woman's cycle is irregular we may recommend hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which will allow us to prepare the lining of the uterus for frozen embryo transfer.
Embryo freezing post IVF embryo transfer: Following embryo transfer on Day 5-6, any extra blastocysts of top quality can be cryopreserved and stored for up to 10 years for future use. Due to our careful selection of only what we deem suitable for freezing, these embryos have >90% thaw survival rate.
Please be aware: Patients are also responsible for keeping in touch with the Lister Fertility Clinic and notifying us of any change of address. The storage period is governed by law and we do not need your consent to remove these embryos from storage at the completion of the statutory period.
“Treatments using frozen embryos at the Lister Fertility Clinic have now produced over 2,200 babies.”
How successful is embryo freezing?
Although historically frozen embryos are suggested to have lower success rates, the difference with fresh is now questioned. Recent studies in various different patient groups suggest that if you directly compare top quality fresh and frozen, the frozen embryos yield a similar pregnancy outcome, along with a lower chance of obstetric complications such as preterm labour and fetal growth restriction.
Embryo freezing as fertility preservation
As there is a longer history of success with embryo freezing than egg freezing, women within a relationship may opt to undergo ovarian stimulation as for a standard IVF cycle, fertilise eggs with partner sperm and store these embryos for later use.
This may offer her a better chance of a successful pregnancy in the future than using her older "fresh" eggs, which may be lower in both quality and quantity. In this scenario, where we are not aiming to select and transfer the best embryo, they are again frozen at the "Blastocyst" stage to give us information on embryo quality prior to freezing.
Our Embryo freezing locations
The Shard Outpatients
The Shard, 32 St Thomas Street SE1 9BS London
Lister Fertility Clinic at The Portland Hospital
215 Great Portland Street W1W 5PN London
Patient stories
Yvette's story: From back pain to hip replacement surgery
Yvette (54) a journalist from Kent, started experiencing pain in her hip seven years ago in 2015. An ex-national gymnast who had been incredibly active and flexible her whole life, Yvette felt concerned about the growing discomfort impacting her quality of life, and so sought help from her GP.
A new hip and straight back into the spin of things
David’s gym video shows him repeatedly pushing up to 100kg on a single leg press – not particularly unusual for this keen cyclist, former competitive squash player and all-round fitness enthusiast. What is unusual is that 52-year-old David had hip surgery just 12 weeks earlier.
Michael's MAKO hip surgery to treat his arthritis
73 year-old Michael, an avid walker and charity worker, was diagnosed with arthritis in January 2021. After facing long waiting times and increasing pain that was becoming more frequent, he started to look elsewhere for treatment.
This content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.