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Who abandons embryos after IVF?
A P H Walsh1, O M Tsar, D J Walsh
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, RCSI, Dublin 2.
Irish Medical Journal
|May 22, 2010
Summary
Few in vitro fertilisation (IVF) patients abandon cryopreserved embryos. Comprehensive outreach failed to locate 11 patients, resulting in a <1% abandonment rate, highlighting the need for clear policies on embryo fate.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Embryology
Background:
- Cryopreservation of embryos is a common practice in in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
- A subset of patients fail to retrieve their stored embryos, leading to abandonment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize patients who abandoned cryopreserved embryos.
- To determine the rate of embryo abandonment.
- To explore the challenges in contacting patients.
Main Methods:
- Review of frozen embryo data from 3244 IVF cycles (2000-2008).
- Definition of abandoned embryos: no contact for >2 years and failed multi-modal outreach.
- Exhaustive search including public databases and death records.
Main Results:
- 1159 cases (35.7%) had frozen embryos; 292 (25.2%) had no contact for >2 years.
- 11 cases (<1%) were classified as abandoned embryos.
- Contact attempts failed due to disconnected numbers and no forwarding addresses.
Conclusions:
- The overall rate of embryo abandonment is low (<1%), but the issue requires attention.
- Pre-IVF counselling can minimize but not eliminate embryo abandonment.
- A clear policy is needed to address the fate of abandoned embryos, considering legal frameworks.
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