What is Fertility Cryopreservation?
Cryopreservation is an innovative process that helps preserve living cells, tissues, and even organs by cooling them to extremely low temperatures. In the context of fertility, this means we can freeze embryos, eggs (oocytes), and sperm to safeguard their viability for future use.
At advanced reproductive technology (ART) clinics like ICRM, cryopreservation is a standard practice that plays a crucial role in many fertility treatments. Over the years, the techniques surrounding cryopreservation have improved significantly, resulting in better outcomes for our patients.
The gold standard for freezing oocytes and embryos is vitrification. This technique involves ultra-rapid cooling, which drops the temperature from 25°C to -196°C in under a second. This quick process prevents damage to reproductive tissues and keeps the cellular membranes intact.
Explore Cryopreservation
What Cryopreservation Services Are Offered at ICRM?
At ICRM, we offer a comprehensive range of cryopreservation fertility services, including:
- Egg Freezing: Vitrification of oocytes for preservation and potential future use.
- Embryo Freezing: Cryopreservation of embryos for later transfer.
- Sperm Banking: Collection, freezing, and storage of sperm samples.
There are many reasons that cryopreservation might be part of your fertility journey. For those facing a cancer diagnosis and looking to preserve their fertility before starting treatment, please visit our Cancer and Fertility page.
How Does Fertility Cryopreservation at ICRM work?
Collection: Samples of eggs, embryos, or sperm are carefully collected.
Testing: We assess each sample for quality and suitability.
Vitrification or Freezing: Our team utilizes the vitrification method to rapidly cool eggs and embryos, ensuring a glass-like preservation state that minimizes cellular damage. Sperm are also frozen using controlled slow-freezing techniques to maintain viability during storage.
Storage: The samples are stored in liquid nitrogen at ultra-low temperatures in long-term cryostorage, preserving them for future use.
ICRM partners with Embryo Options, a third-party billing service, to manage payments for cryostorage. For billing inquiries, go to the Embryo Options login page. For any questions regarding logins or billing, reach out to customerservice@embryooptions.com. Please remember that different accounts are required for sperm, embryos, and oocytes.
Cryopreservation FAQs
What can you tell me about North American Cryobank and the frozen reproductive material stored before 2017?
Where Can I Pay My Cryopreservation Bill?
What Are My Options for My Frozen Embryos Now That I Have Completed My Family?
We offer several options for frozen embryo disposition, and we’re here to help you make an informed decision about what to do with your frozen embryos. You have the option to:
- Transfer to long-term storage at North American Cryobank or ReproTech.
- Make an anonymous or known donation to ICRM’s in-house embryo donation program.
- Donate to an outside embryo donation program.
- Donate to science or outside research, specifically for research purposes.
- Donate to teaching, training, or research programs.
- Take possession of your embryos for personal memorialization.
- Request a compassionate transfer to avoid implantation.
Discard all embryos with an easy online process via Embryo Options.
For more information about these options, please contact your coordinator or email tori.hurst@idahoreproductive.com.
