Cryopreservation care
Embryo Freezing (Cryopreservation)
Cryopreservation of viable Day 5 blastocysts, for future frozen embryo transfer cycles.
Quick facts
- Category
- Fertility preservation
- Duration
- Integrated into an IVF cycle, on Day 5 or 6
- Egg retrieval
- Part of the parent IVF cycle
- Laboratory
- Gardner grading and ultra-fast vitrification
- Sedation
- None — this is a laboratory procedure
- Follow-up
- A record of each embryo graded and stored
Clinical overview
Understanding Embryo Freezing
During an IVF or ICSI cycle, multiple high-quality embryos often reach the blastocyst stage. Embryo freezing preserves these surplus viable embryos at −196°C. This allows couples to undergo future transfer cycles without having to repeat the hormonal stimulation and egg retrieval procedures.
Is this pathway likely to be relevant for you?
Situations in which a specialist may suggest discussing this treatment:
- Couples with surplus viable blastocysts following their fresh embryo transfer
- Patients undergoing Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT-A) who await biopsy screening results
Step by step
What actually happens, stage by stage
Knowing the sequence in advance removes a great deal of anxiety. Timings are typical rather than fixed, and yours will be confirmed by your specialist.
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Blastocyst development monitoring
Day 5 or 6 · Day 5
Embryos develop to the advanced 100-cell blastocyst stage in benchtop incubators.
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Morphological grading
Selection · Day 5
Senior embryologists grade the inner cell mass and trophectoderm under Gardner criteria.
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Ultra-fast vitrification
Flash freezing · Day 5/6
Blastocysts are prepared with vitrification media and flash-frozen at −196°C in liquid nitrogen.
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Cryostorage logging
Double witnessing · Continuous
Embryos are assigned secure individual canister positions in alarm-monitored storage tanks.
Why this may have been suggested
Conditions that lead here
Questions answered
Frequently asked about Embryo Freezing
Yes. Decades of international clinical data show that children born from frozen embryo transfers have identical or slightly higher birth weights, and equal health outcomes compared with fresh transfers.
Next step
Discuss Embryo Freezing with a fertility specialist
A quiet, confidential consultation in Mysuru, or a video teleconsultation if travelling is difficult. Bring any previous reports — we will go through them with you.