Wondering What To Do With Your Frozen Embryos?
We safely store all our frozen embryos for as long as our patients wish, however we are conscious that many of our patients may be wondering what options are available for their frozen embryos so we have listed these below.
If you wish to speak to someone about your decision, our confidential counselling service is available to you free of charge during this decision process.
Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)
If you are ready to try again, then you’ll be pleased to hear that a FET carries less physical and emotional stress than going through a full IVF cycle.
National success rates for FETs are now comparable to IVF rates using fresh embryos, due to improvements in the method for freezing embryos over the last ten years. FET success rates at Complete Fertility are above the national average.
Also, a FET is significantly less expensive than a fresh IVF cycle.
Complete Fertility FET Package
Fees include:
- Consultations and follow up within 6 months
- Screening tests
- Ultrasound scans
- Early pregnancy scan
- Blastocyst culture (if appropriate)
Fees exclude:
- Drugs
- HFEA fee
If your fresh IVF cycle resulted in freezing all of your embryos (known as a “freeze-all” cycle) then the cost of your first FET will be heavily discounted. In this instance the IVF cancellation policy is not applicable.
We offer FET patients the option of an interest-free finance plan that, instead of a lump sump payment, allows patients the option to spread their payments over 12 months with no interest and no fees to pay.
Save Your Embryos For A Future Cycle
If you haven’t yet completed your family, then you may want to save your embryos for a future transfer when you are ready to try again.
Donate Your Embryos To An Infertile Couple
If you aren’t planning to use your embryos for further treatment, then you might consider donating your unused embryos to another couple in need.
Enabling someone to have a child through the gift of embryo donation is one of the most wonderful things you can do. Our donors feel a huge sense of pride and achievement, knowing the joy they have brought to people who could not otherwise become parents.
However, the decision to donate embryos should not be taken lightly and you will need to consider your long-term welfare and that of your family. All of our embryo donors are required to attend a session of implications counselling to talk about any ethical and legal issues and share any questions to enable them to come to a confident and comfortable decision about whether to donate their embryos. There are also some basic medical criteria that need to be met, including age limits.
Like adopted people, people born from embryo donation have the right to ask the HFEA for the donor’s identity (full name, last known address, date of birth) when they reach age 18 or older.
To find out more about donating your embryos please contact us on
023 8120 8359 Donate Your Embryos To Research
Another possible option is to donate your embryos to scientific research. Donated embryos to science will not become babies or children. They will be disposed of sensitively at a point during the research, but the knowledge gained may give someone else another chance at success in the future.
Please speak to our lab team on 023 8120 8407 for more information about how your donated embryos will be used in research.
Discard The Embryos
If you no longer need your embryos then you can have them thawed and sensitively disposed of by our embryologists.
Frozen Embryo Options Booklet
