Embryo Freezing
If there are many high-quality embryos belonging to the patient other than the transferred embryos, they can be frozen. By thawing and transferring frozen embryos in later applications, the woman's need for retreatment is eliminated.
At this stage, the patient is given only drugs that prepare the inside of the uterus. This provides both psychological and economic advantages. Embryos that are decided to be frozen are gradually balanced with chemicals called cryoprotectants to prevent damage during the freezing and thawing processes. Two methods can be applied to freeze embryos.
1)Slow freezing
2)Fast freezing (vitrification)
After the embryos are frozen, they are stored in liquid nitrogen at -196 C until thawed. Since ice crystals that may form due to the liquid content of the embryo while cooling the embryos to a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius may damage the integrity of the embryo, the cooling process is carried out gradually by using protective chemicals in the slow freezing technique. In vitrification, a vitreous or glassy structure is created in which ice crystals do not form at all, and the cells are frozen by dipping them directly into liquid nitrogen. When thawing frozen embryos, the opposite process is applied, using special protective chemicals. If it is observed that the thawed embryos continue their vitality and grow, they are transferred. Embryos may be damaged during the freezing and thawing processes, not during the time they are kept in liquid nitrogen.
- In women with blocked uterine canals (tubes)
- In cases where sperm functions are severely impaired
- Women who have widespread adhesions in the abdomen due to endometriosis and cannot achieve pregnancy with treatment
- In immunological (related to the immune system) infertility
- In some hormonal disorders
- In cases where pregnancy cannot be achieved with other treatment methods
- Infertility whose cause cannot be explained by tests
- In order to obtain a healthy baby by diagnosing some hereditary diseases at the embryo stage (together with pre-term genetic diagnosis methods).
- In order to select healthy embryos by genetic diagnosis method in women with recurrent miscarriages.
- If pregnancy cannot be achieved despite the insemination method being applied several times