Frozen embryos result in just as many live births in IVF

Freezing and subsequent transfer of embryos gives infertile couples just as much of a chance of having a child as using fresh embryos for in vitro fertilisation (IVF), research from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Adelaide, Australia has found.

In results to be published today (Thursday 11 January) in The New England Journal of Medicine, the research team shows that ongoing pregnancy rates and live births were equivalent in a group of IVF women implanted with frozen embryos compared with fresh embryos.

“Frozen embryo techniques are growing in popularity in fertility clinics worldwide. This is one of the reasons why our research is important for fertility clinicians and researchers, and of course couples who are hoping to have a child,” says lead author Dr Lan N. Vuong from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, and My Duc Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.

Dr Vuong’s work was conducted in collaboration with Professor Ben Mol, from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, a member of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute’s Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children theme; and Professor Robert Norman, also from the Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide and a leading fertility unit, Fertility SA.

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