Two singleton live births after the transfer of cryopreserved–thawed day-3 embryos following an unstimulated in-vitro oocyte maturation cycle

• Published in: Reproductive biomedicine online Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 387 - 390
• Main Authors: Dowling-Lacey, Donna, Jones, Estella, Bocca, Silvina, Stadtmauer, Laurel, Gibbons, William, Oehninger, Sergio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2010
• Subjects: Cryopreservation; embryo cryopreservation; Embryo Transfer - methods; Female; Humans; in-vitro maturation; Infertility, Female - therapy; IVF; Live Birth; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Oocytes - cytology; PCO; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Pregnancy; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; IVF; embryo cryopreservation; in-vitro maturation; live birth; PCO
• ISSN: 1472-6483; 1472-6491
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2009.12.005

Abstract The objective was to report two singleton live births after transfer of cryopreserved–thawed day-3 embryos resulting from an unstimulated in-vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) cycle. A 29-year-old female patient with polycystic ovaries (PCO) underwent an unstimulated IVM cycle. A total of 43 prophase-I oocytes were retrieved; 21 oocytes achieved in-vitro maturation to the metaphase-II stage at 36 h post-retrieval and 18 oocytes were fertilized (two pronuclei) after intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Two embryos were transferred in the fresh cycle (no pregnancy) and 15 day-3 embryos (post-oocyte microinjection) were cryopreserved. Subsequently, the patient became pregnant after each of two embryo transfer cycles from cryopreserved–thawed embryos (three and two embryos transferred respectively), with delivery of a single, term, healthy baby after each transfer. It is concluded that healthy live births were documented in a PCO patient undergoing unstimulated IVM followed by transfer of day-3 cryopreserved (slow-freeze)–thawed embryos, adding these methodologies to the armamentarium of assisted reproductive technologies.