Covid-19 Your FET Questions Answered

Questions and Answers

1. Will a frozen embryo transfer be as successful as a fresh cycle and does this depend on your age?

The chances of success with frozen embryos are very similar to fresh embryos and that is related to the woman’s age at the time of collecting the eggs. Therefore, with frozen embryos, the chances of success will be very similar to the chances of success at the time of the freezing of the embryos, no matter how long before this was done.

2. Are the embryos likely to defrost ok?

Yes. Embryos are commonly frozen on day 2, 3, 5 or 6 after egg collection, with the day of freezing dependent upon a number of clinical factors. Embryos are now frozen using a technique called vitrification and their chances of survival after thawing are over 90%. If they survive they give you very similar chances of success to fresh embryos.

3. Will my embryo be affected once inside me if I catch the virus?

So far there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted from the woman to the embryo or the fetus, so even if you become ill with COVID-19 once you have had a positive pregnancy test, it is very unlikely that this will affect the baby.

4. How safe are my frozen embryos from the virus?

From what we know they are safe. So far no one has identified transmission of any virus in liquid nitrogen. There is also no evidence for the presence of COVID-19 in the embryos and therefore even if you were positive for the virus at the time of egg collection the frozen embryos should have no COVID-19 in them.

5. Is there a chance any of the clinic staff could have had the virus when I had my egg collection yesterday?

It is very unlikely that any clinic staff were suffering from COVID-19 when you were treated. Clinics and health care professionals have been aware of the advice from the government to self-isolate if there are any symptoms of infection. However, we know that all infections have a phase where the person may harbour the virus but does not show signs of infection. This is known as the ‘Incubation period’ and for novel coronavirus this is on average around 5 days. People are more likely to be infectious when they are sick, but some spread may occur from people without symptoms.

6. I’ve been stopped mid-cycle. Will my body be able to get back to normal after only some of the meds?

Yes. The fertility medications – both the injections used to stimulate the ovaries and the hormones used to prepare you for a frozen embryo replacement – are cleared from the body in a matter of days. You are likely to have a menstrual period within 2 weeks of stopping all medications. We would recommend to use barrier contraception or abstain from sex until you get your menstrual period. There is no reason why any