The effect of embryo freezing on birth weight. IB research

Embryo freezing consists of preserving embryos at temperatures below zero whilst ensuring their integrity so that they might later be transferred to the female uterus. 
Research carried out in Instituto Bernabeu was recently presented at the ESHRE Annual Meeting which took place a few weeks ago in Lisbon. The study collected data on treatments carried out during 2013 and compared the birth weight of babies born as a result of fertility treatment using fresh embryos and those which used frozen embryos. The study returned results which indicated higher birth weights amongst babies in the frozen embryo group, results which are in line with recent research. This would suggest that freezing may have some sort of long-term effect on the embryo. On the other hand, patients who have a history of giving birth to babies with a low birth weight could potentially benefit from a frozen embryo transfer procedure.

This significant study is one of ten pieces of research work which were accepted by the ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) scientific committee for its Annual Meeting, the most relevant event of its type in the field of reproductive medicine.

‘Effect of embryo freezing process on birth weight.' MC. Tió, J Ten, A. Rodríguez-Arnedo, J. Guerrero, B. Moliner, F. Sellers, J. Ll. Aparicio, R. Bernabeu. Poster