Cryopreservation (Fertility Preservation)

Eggs, sperm and embryos can all be cryopreserved. Which is right for you depends on your situation, relationship status and goals.

An ultra-rapid freezing method that turns cells to a glass-like state without forming ice crystals, giving much higher survival rates than older slow-freezing.

For many years. Cells frozen by vitrification remain viable over long periods when stored correctly in liquid nitrogen, with no clear reduction in quality over time.

For embryos, frozen-embryo transfers can be as successful as — and sometimes more successful than — fresh transfers, because the lining can be optimally prepared. Egg and sperm outcomes depend on age and quality at freezing.

Earlier is better — ideally in your late twenties to early thirties — because egg quality and quantity decline with age. Freezing younger eggs gives the best future chance.

It varies with age, but more eggs improve the odds. After assessing your reserve, your specialist will advise a target number, sometimes over more than one cycle.

Motility can fall slightly after thawing, but stored sperm works well for IUI and especially IVF–ICSI, which needs only a few healthy sperm.

Yes. Many couples return to use their stored embryos to try for a second child without repeating a full IVF cycle.

Anyone facing fertility-reducing treatment or surgery, those wishing to delay parenthood, men with declining sperm counts, and couples with surplus embryos after IVF.