Vitrification has also made IVF safer in other ways, including giving patients less time between fertility treatments. The hormonal treatments used in the first stage of IVF are designed to increase the production of mature eggs that can be collected. These treatments carry a small risk of a condition called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), which can be life-threatening in rare cases. It is believed that the ability to freeze all of your embryos and use them later gives the body a chance to recover from hormonal treatment. and reduces the risk of OHSS.
And because clinics are now able to culture embryos for up to a week, they can take some of the 100 or so cells and send them for genetic testing before freezing the embryos. People undergoing IVF can get a genetic readout of all the embryos before deciding which one to implant. (However, it is worth noting that these testing technologies are not perfect.)
“Those are really radical changes, and we take them lightly,” Penzias says.
These technologies have also changed the way IVF works. What was once a treatment for infertility is now used to preserve fertility. People who want to delay becoming parents may choose to freeze their eggs or embryos and use them later. They may choose to transfer one embryo in a year’s time and another several years later. “We have been able to empower women to have more reproductive options and get greater reproductive benefits from a single IVF cycle,” Penzias says.
People who are about to undergo cancer treatment that may damage the testicles or ovaries may also choose to store their eggs or sperm ahead of time. Scientists have also been able to preserve pieces of ovarian and testicular tissue and later re-implant them, helping recipients have healthy children.
Today, more people than ever before have access to safe IVF options that offer multiple pathways to parenthood. Those options look ready to expand. But if you want to know more about AI and IVF robots, you have to read this week’s story here!
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review Weekly Biotech Newsletter. To get it in your inbox every Thursday, and to be the first to read articles like this, Sign up here.
