Jennifer Eaton, MD, was the lead author on an IVF study comparing outcomes from frozen donor eggs vs. fresh donor eggs (with researchers at the University of Colorado).
Dr. Eaton noted the following points:
- Researchers found the odds of having a full-term baby of a healthy weight were the same whether the patient received fresh donor eggs or donor eggs that had been frozen.
- This is the largest study published so far comparing these 2 types of donor eggs - 30,000 patient cases were evaluated
- Researchers also found patients were 2 times more likely to have a full-term baby of a healthy weight when they had only 1 embryo implanted rather than 2 or more.
The research was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and concludes that fresh donor eggs during in vitro fertilization (IVF) provide a higher chance of implantation when compared with donor eggs that have been cryopreserved. In addition, the study lends credence to the practice of transferring just one embryo during IVF to avoid complications that accompany multiple births, bucking the historically prevalent method of transferring two or more embryos to increase the odds of pregnancy.
Frozen donor eggs provide a more economical and convenient way to obtain fertility treatment with donor eggs, while fresh eggs (non-frozen) tend to be more expensive and require the patient to coordinate with a single egg donor. Irrespective of the type of donor egg a patient pursues, opting for a single embryo transfer was shown to lead to a higher chance of a healthy pregnancy and birth.