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Fertility treatment using frozen embryos
Embryo freezing
- Support your future fertility
- Lister Fertility Clinic - the UK’s largest private IVF unit
- 2,200 babies born with us using frozen embryos
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Embryo freezing at HCA UK
Support your future fertility
Choosing when to start your family is a big decision. While you may not be ready for a child now, storing embryos for possible future pregnancies can give you peace of mind and welcome options going forward.
Embryo freezing at Lister Fertility Clinic gives you the freedom to plan your future with confidence. Also known as cryopreservation, this is a process in preserves embryos created through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), allowing you to maximise your chances of a successful pregnancy when the time is right for you.1
As you age, your fertility naturally declines as the number and quality of your eggs decreases.2 Having frozen embryos in storage can help to preserve your fertility as you get older.
You may embark on embryo freezing as a standalone treatment. Sometimes, an IVF treatment cycle can also produce an excess of high-quality embryos that you may choose to freeze so that they can be stored and ‘ready to go’ if you need them in the future.
Embryo freezing also gives you the option to have pre-implantation genetic testing, if you have any concerns about hereditary conditions.3
- In the egg freezing process, your eggs are collected and frozen without being fertilised. When you want to use your eggs, they’ll be thawed and then fertilised using a special technique before being transferred to your womb.
- In the embryo freezing process, your eggs are collected and fertilised to produce embryos. The embryos are then frozen and stored. When you want to try to conceive, the frozen embryos can be thawed and transferred to your womb.
The first step in egg freezing and embryo freezing is similar.1 In both procedures, you’ll have hormone injections to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs, which we’ll then collect. The main difference between the two processes is the stage at which your eggs are fertilised. Our expert team at Lister Fertility Clinic will help guide you to choose the treatment best suited to you.
We carefully manage the embryo freezing process. The steps are as follows:1,3
- First, you’ll take hormone injections to stimulate your ovaries to produce eggs. You’ll then undergo a vaginal ultrasound, which takes place under mild sedation. A thin needle will be passed into the vaginal wall to collect your eggs and prepare them for fertilisation. Your consultant will explain the procedure step-by-step and can go at your pace. You may experience some mild cramping, but any discomfort will be managed.
- Your eggs will be combined with sperm from your partner or a donor and fertilised in a laboratory to create your embryos. They are then left to develop for up to six days, at which point they reach what’s called the blastocyst stage. Find out more about blastocyst transfer.
- We’ll identify high-quality embryos for freezing, making sure we only choose those with more than a 90% chance of surviving the thawing process.
- Your embryos will then be frozen using a technique known as ‘vitrification’. This rapidly freezes your embryos to limit any damage to them.
Once you’re ready to try and conceive, we’ll thaw one of your embryos and transfer it to your womb. For the best chance of success, we’ll monitor your natural ovulation cycle so we can thaw and transfer at the best time.
If your cycle is irregular, taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help to prepare your womb lining before embryo transfer. Your consultant will talk you through what they think is the best route forward.
22,000+
babies born with us
17
dedicated fertility consultants
35+
years with a history of success
Next-day appointments
See a specialist in as little as 24 hours
State-of-the-art diagnostics
With results in as little as 48 hours
Multidisciplinary teams
Expert treatment with specialist care for complex care
The Embryo-freezing process
What to expect
Preparing for fertility treatment can be an anxious time. We’re here for you throughout, making sure you feel comfortable, informed and in control at every stage of the process.
If you’d like more information, or more detail, there’s a link to our guide to embryo freezing below. And if you’d rather speak to someone, our team is here to answer any questions you may have.
01
Initial consultation
Your chosen consultant will carry out your initial consultation, including a thorough physical examination and planning for your treatment. They’ll discuss next steps with you and design a treatment plan you’re happy with.
02
Preparing for embryo freezing
You’ll start with daily hormone injections for around two weeks, to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple follicles, each of which may produce an egg. During this time, you’ll also have blood tests and ultrasound scans of your pelvis to monitor the number and size of the follicles.
Then, when one or more follicles reach a certain size, (usually 18mm or more*), you’ll have what’s called a trigger injection. This is an injection of hormones to mature the eggs before collection.
03
Collection and embryo freezing
Collection itself is a minor procedure during which a needle, guided by ultrasound, is inserted to collect the eggs. The procedure is performed under anaesthesia or sedation, so you won’t feel any pain.
After collection, your eggs will be combined with collected sperm and fertilised in a laboratory to create your embryos.
They are then left to develop for about six days, and the most high-quality embryos will be selected for cryopreservation (freezing). We use a technique known as vitrification, which uses a rapid freezing process to minimise any potential damage to the embryo.
*In some cases, the doctor may trigger at less than 18mm. This will be a decision based on your individual needs, forming part of your personalised treatment plan.
Where can I access embryo freezing services?
You’ll find our embryo freezing services in London and Buckinghamshire. Across hospitals and treatment centres, you’ll have access to dozens of industry-leading fertility experts who can help, from initial consultation through to treatment and next steps.
Lister Fertility Clinic
Chelsea Bridge Road SW1W 8RH London
Lister Fertility Clinic at The Portland Hospital
First Floor 215 Great Portland Street W1W 5PN London
Lister Fertility Clinic at The Beaconsfield Clinic
Little Hall Barn Windsor End, Beaconsfield HP9 2JW Buckinghamshire
Lister Fertility Clinic at The Shard
The Shard Outpatients St Thomas Street SE1 9BS London
Accessing private health care
Self-pay
You don’t need health insurance to be seen quickly. If you’re looking for treatment and don’t want to wait, all of our fertility treatments can be paid for as and when you need them.
And to give you peace of mind from the start, we’ll provide you with a clear and transparent quote outlining exactly what’s included in your self-pay package.
Embryo freezing FAQs
Yes, of course. Embryo freezing is a highly personal process, and we want you to feel as comfortable and confident as possible, at every stage. We have a wealth of experts on our team, so you should be able to find the perfect match for you.
It’s variable, depending on where you have the treatment and the package that you chose.
Research suggests that frozen embryos have a similar success rate in pregnancy to ‘fresh’ embryos that are transferred to your womb straight away.3,4,5 Frozen embryos are not linked to any increase in pregnancy complications or rates of success.
Under UK law, you can keep frozen embryos for up to 55 years.6 We’ll write to you every year to confirm whether you’d like to continue storing yours. From studies to date, the length of time frozen embryos are stored does not seem to affect their pregnancy success rate.7-9 Whether you store your embryos for two years or 10, your chances of success will be similar.
Embryo freezing is available as a service in every IVF package at Lister Fertility Clinic, however if you choose to have embryos frozen alongside a ‘fresh’ embryo transfer, you may have to pay additional costs.
Our services are regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), who are responsible for fertility treatment and research across the UK. As well as licensing clinics and monitoring their practices, HFEA sets standards to ensure patient safety and high-quality care.
Our inspection rating for both the Lister Fertility Clinic and Lister Fertility Clinic at The Portland Hospital is 5/5. You can see the full reports for yourself here and here.
If you’d like to meet our team and find out more about the embryo freezing process, then our open evenings give you the chance to do just that.
Available both online and in-person, these events are designed to help those of you actively thinking about your fertility treatment options. We’ll go through the embryo freezing options available at the clinic and give an overview of the process itself. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions to be answered live by our team of specialists.
Our patients' fertility stories
How Lister Fertility Clinic helped two fathers-to-be
Paul is sitting in his home in Belfast, with his husband Neil and their beautiful three-month-old son Felix, talking about their journey to fatherhood – a journey that the Lister Fertility Clinic, part of HCA Healthcare UK, accompanied them on.
Clare’s fertility treatment
Clare and her husband Derek thought they might never have children, until joining the egg-sharing programme at the Lister Fertility Clinic.
Alice and Aaron's fertility treatment
After being told they’d never have children, Alice and Aaron turned to the Lister Fertility Clinic. They now have a beautiful two-year-old daughter.
“Amazing clinic, couldn’t have chosen a better clinic to undertake IVF. All the doctors and nurses were incredibly friendly and supportive.”
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