‘Why have women not returned to use their frozen oocytes?’: a 5-year follow-up of women after planned oocyte cryopreservation

• Published in: Reproductive biomedicine online Vol. 43; no. 6; pp. 1137 - 1145
• Main Authors: Tsafrir, A., Holzer, H., Miron-Shatz, T., Eldar-Geva, T., Gal, M., Ben-ami, I., Dekel, N., Weintruab, A., Goldberg, D., Schonberger, O., Srebnik, N., Hyman, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Adult; Cryopreservation; Elective oocyte cryopreservation; Female; Fertility Preservation; Humans; Oocyte Retrieval; Oocytes; Planned oocyte cryopreservation; Pregnancy; Elective oocyte cryopreservation; Fertility preservation; Planned oocyte cryopreservation
• ISSN: 1472-6483; 1472-6491
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.08.026

What are the reproductive choices and retrospective reflections of women at least 4 years after planned oocyte cryopreservation (POC)? This was an internet survey, using the REDCap application, of women who underwent POC, at a single-centre university-affiliated IVF unit, 4–8 years before the survey. The questionnaire addressed reproductive choices and outcomes following POC. Seventy-nine women who underwent POC during 2011–2014 were invited to participate, and 70 (89%) responded. Mean age at cryopreservation was 37.1 ± 2.4 (range 30–41) years, mean age at study participation 42.6 ± 2.6 (range 35–48) years, and mean time from first cryopreservation cycle to study participation 5.5 ± 1.3 (range 4–8) years. The main retrospectively reported reason for POC was not wanting to become pregnant without a partner (59, 84%). During the follow-up period, 44 women (63%) attempted to conceive either naturally or by assisted reproductive technology using fresh or cryopreserved oocytes. Of those, 28 women achieved a live birth (64% of those who tried to conceive). Fourteen respondents (20% of all respondents) reported using their cryopreserved oocytes, and three (21%) achieved a birth using those oocytes. Fifteen women (34%) of those who tried to conceive used donor spermatozoa. The most common reasons for not using frozen oocytes were achieving pregnancy without frozen oocytes or preferring not to have a child without a partner. A considerable proportion of women who had POC and were not interested in being a single parent by choice eventually try to conceive using donor spermatozoa several years later.