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Assisted Reproduction · Freezing and Storage

Egg Freezing in Fertility Treatment: Trends and Figures 2010-2016

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Published September 2018 Read at source
Read our synopsis

RRM Academy Synopsis

UK Own Frozen-Egg Birth Rates Stayed Below Fresh IVF By 2016

This UK regulator's report covers registry data from every licensed clinic on egg freezing and thawing, 2010 to 2016. In 2016, birth rates from a woman's own frozen eggs reached about 2 out of 10 cycles, less than the roughly 3 out of 10 rate for IVF overall. Freezing stayed a small share of all fertility cycles.

Key Findings

  • In 2016, UK clinics carried out 1,310 egg freezing cycles and 519 egg thawing cycles. That year, 156 babies were born from frozen eggs, and 10,253 eggs were in storage.
  • Birth rates per cycle in 2016: 30% for frozen donor eggs, 18% for a woman's own frozen eggs. IVF overall was 26%, and fresh donor eggs were 33%.
  • Egg freezing cycles rose from 234 in 2010 to 1,310 in 2016, a 460% increase. By 2016, 81% of these cycles were privately funded and 19% were NHS-funded.
  • In 2016, only about 1 in 4 egg thaw cycles resulted in a birth; roughly 3 out of every 4 egg thaw cycles did not.
  • UK clinics doing egg freezing grew from 37 in 2010 to 62 in 2016. Most (64%) ran 10 or fewer cycles that year; only three clinics ran more than 100.

Interpretation

This is a regulator's summary of registry data from every licensed UK fertility clinic. The report is not a clinical trial. The registry shows patterns across the whole national patient group. The data do not test one treatment directly. So the findings can show trends, but they cannot prove why outcomes differ. The report itself says the own-egg thaw group and the NHS-funded group are small, so those rates are less certain. The authors say donor eggs succeed more often partly because of screening rules for egg donors. The explanation is contextual. The comparison is not controlled. The data cover the UK only and end in 2016.

RRM Context

Egg freezing preserves eggs at the age they are frozen. The report says fresh IVF cannot reverse age-related egg decline, which is why freezing age matters so much. It does not find why a woman's fertility is reduced. Restorative reproductive medicine looks for that cause and treats it, a question this registry data does not address. The report also says the age eggs are frozen matters more for outcomes than the age they are later used.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract not indexed. Read at source

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Assisted Reproduction › Freezing and Storage › Egg Freezing
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority et al. 2018, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 2018

Cite this article

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2018). Egg Freezing in Fertility Treatment: Trends and Figures 2010-2016.

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