CACRM offers fertility preservation cryopreservation (freezing) through the state of the art vitrification process. These services can help individuals who want to save their fertility because they:

  • Will undergo medical treatment that could impair or reduce their reproductive capabilities
  • Want to postpone family building because of personal reasons such as their career, education, or not having a suitable partner
  • Want to use frozen gametes for future IVF procedures

Blastocyst Embryo and Egg Vitrification

Vitrification involves freezing embryos at the blastocyst stage or oocytes (eggs) through an ultrarapid process. Flash freezing allows minimal exposure for damaging intracellular ice to form. As a result, the vitrification process preserves your genetic material. 

 

Blastocyst vitrification has been performed successfully for many years. Vitrified good quality embryos have a better than 95% freeze-thaw survival rate and a pregnancy generating potential comparable to fresh embryos. Egg freezing is a more recent proven technology.

Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation or “freezing” involves storing vitrified embryos or eggs at a very low temperature to preserve them so they may be thawed and used later.

 

The reproductive medicine field has a long and successful track record of storing, freezing and thawing embryos for IVF transfers. In 1984, the first baby was born from a cryopreserved embryo. Though some embryos have been stored for decades, most intended parents use them within several years of their cryopreservation.

 

We have more scientific experience and information available on the long-term survival of blastocysts than oocytes (eggs). Vitrified eggs must survive thawing and then be fertilized and advance to the blastocyst stage of development before they are transferred to the Intended mother or surrogate.

 

In 2012, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology announced that egg freezing for fertility preservation was no longer considered an experimental process. In the following decade, we have seen an increased demand for this service.

Fertility Preservation & Cryopreservation in San Diego CA

Freezing Options

In our state-of-the-art embryology laboratory, we freeze three types of genetic material:

Egg Freezing And Fertility Preservation - CACRM

Egg Freezing

CACRM recommends egg freezing (or egg banking) for patients with medical reasons such as starting cancer or other treatments that may impair their future production of oocytes ( eggs) and/or the ability to conceive.

Also, women who want to stop the ‘biological clock’ may freeze their eggs, placing their gametes on hold to conceive later with the IVF process.

Learn more about egg freezing and oocyte fertility preservation.

Blastocyst Embryo Transfer in San Diego CA

Blastocyst Freezing

Embryos created thru the IVF process are developed until the blastocyst stage (days five to seven of development) for future IVF cycles ( embryo banking).

Also, patients may have extra embryos from their fresh cycle or freeze all the embryos created to perform preimplantation genetic testing and a frozen /thaw embryo transfer in the future

Man who froze sperm for fertility preservation

Sperm Freezing

Sperm freezing, also known as sperm banking, has been performed since the 1970s and has been successfully thawed and utilized without complications.

Though not all sperm survive the process, generally frozen sperm has the same success as fresh sperm, if the semen analysis is within normal limits.

Men freeze their sperm for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Facing medical treatment that could affect sperm quality
  • Undergoing a vasectomy
  • Deteriorating sperm, for example, varicocele, taking testosterone supplementation
  • Inability to produce a sample when needed for treatment
  • Before deploying for military duty
  • For future IVF procedures
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