TFC at ASRM 2013

Anyone who has ever worked a trade show knows how exhausting it can be. When Texas Fertility Center attended ASRM 2013, collapsing was reason to celebrate. Our embryologists presented findings on a new technique with a near-perfect success rate. Approximately 97% of blastocysts survive the vitrification and thawing process when they are collapsed using a laser prior to being frozen.

What is a blastocyst, and why do we freeze it?

A blastocyst is a five- or six-day-old embryo created in a cycle of in vitro fertilization. We are finding great success with freezing blastocysts, and then transferring one at a time in a subsequent FET cycle. Texas Fertility Center freezes blastocysts when a couple produces more than enough embryos, and wishes to securely store the “extra” embryos for future IVF cycles.Texas Fertility Center shared our blastocyst research with colleagues at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in Boston this fall.

Watch this short video that shows how our IVF lab shrinks the embryo with a laser prior to cryofreezing.

Blastocysts and beach balls at ASRM 2013

“Collapsing a blastocyst is like letting the air out of a beach ball,” says TFC Embryologist Rita Fields. The shrunken blastocyst can then absorb more of the fluid that protects it during the freeze-thaw process.

Improved success rates and an improved process for frozen embryo transfer (FET) are good news for anyone undergoing IVF, or considering embryo adoption as a family building option.

For more fertility news from ASRM 2013, contact us.