NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The pregnancy, delivery, and implantation rates seen with frozen embryo donation in the US compare well with those reported with autologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, according to a report in the October issue of Fertility and Sterility.

The authors note that most IVF clinics now require couple to indicate what they want done with left-over embryos — donating them to infertile couple being one option.

The current study “is the largest case series yet published regarding outcomes of embryo donation,” study co-author Dr. Reginald Finger, from the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, and colleagues note. “The rates we found equal or exceed most of those documented previously in the literature. These very high rates are comparable to those seen with fresh embryo transfer.”

The results are based on a study of four infertility clinics and three embryo donation agencies in the US that provided data from their first year of available information through 2006.

A total of 702 frozen embryo transfer procedures were performed at the centers from 1991 to 2006, the report indicates. These transfers led to 314 clinical pregnancies (44.7%) and 249 deliveries (35.5%) with 320 live births.

Of 3103 embryos that were thawed, 2078 were transferred, the authors report. This resulted in an implantation rate of 19.9% and a live birth rate per embryo transferred of 15.0%.

“We are currently conducting a survey requesting numbers of donated embryo transfers and pregnancy and birth outcomes from all infertility clinics in the US that are known to conduct donated embryo transfers,” the researchers add.

Reference:
Fertil Steril 2008;90:1077-1080.