Abstract
Objective To determine the number of embryos stored at assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics in the United States and their current disposition.
Design A targeted survey instrument sent by the SART-RAND team to all medical practices providing in vitro fertilization services in the United States.
Results The SART-RAND team surveyed all 430 ART practices in the United States. Of these practices, 340 returned surveys for analysis. The data from these surveys were merged with data taken from the 1999 SART dataset, which contains information about practice size and success rates. Responding clinics reported a total of 396,526 embryos in storage as of April 11, 2002. The vast majority of the embryos (88.2%) were targeted for patient use. Small numbers of embryos were available for research, donation, destruction, quality assurance, or other uses.
Conclusions Nearly 400,000 embryos are stored in the United States, the majority of which (88.2%) are targeted for patient use. Few are available for research (2.8%), limiting possible conversion into embryonic stem cell lines.
cryopreserved embryos United States storage numbers, frozen embryo disposition ART clinics survey, embryos available for stem cell research, IVF embryo storage surplus statistics, SART RAND survey embryo cryopreservation, ethical implications frozen embryo surplus, assisted reproductive technology embryo inventory, embryonic stem cell lines availability frozen embryos, Hoffman Zellman embryo storage survey 2003, disposition of unused IVF embryos fertility clinics
PMID 12738496 12738496 DOI 10.1016/s0015-0282(03)00172-9 10.1016/s0015-0282(03)00172-9
Keywords
Cryopreservation, Embryo Research, Humans, Organ Preservation, Reproductive Techniques, Assisted, United States