Secondary donation of frozen embryos is more common after pregnancy initiation with donated eggs than after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer and gamete intrafallopian transfer.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the availability of donated cryopreserved embryos.

DESIGN

Retrospective review.

SETTING

Community hospital-based donor oocyte program.

PATIENT(S): Eighty-nine consecutive infertile couples and women who had 94 sets of embryos cryopreserved after pregnancy initiation with unfertilized donated eggs between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1996.

INTERVENTION(S): Cryopreservation of fertilized ova or cleaving embryos.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Disposition of frozen embryos as of June 1, 1997.

RESULT(S): Of the 94 sets of frozen embryos, 52 (55.3%) were thawed into the original recipient. At an average of 30 months since the treatment cycle, 26 (27.7%) sets of embryos remain in storage. Of the 16 sets of embryos not thawed for transfer, 11 sets (11.7%) were donated and 5 sets (5.3%) were destroyed. The fraction of spare embryos donated was much higher after pregnancy initiation with unfertilized donated eggs than after IVF-ET and GIFT (68.8% versus 19.1%, respectively).

CONCLUSION(S): Couples and women who did not use their frozen embryos after pregnancy initiation with unfertilized donated eggs were twice as likely to donate them as to have them destroyed. Secondary donation of cryopreserved embryos was much more common after pregnancy initiation with unfertilized donated eggs than after standard IVF-ET and GIFT.