Study shows frozen embryos better than fresh

Reuters reports on a study that shows that frozen embryos may be better than fresh for IVF. It was a Finnish study reported in the Journal of Human Reproduction. Here are the numbers.

They studied 2,300 children conceived with frozen embryos, more than 4,100 born after fresh embryos were used, and 32,000 pregnancies that did not require IVF or other fertility treatments. Overall, 258, or about one in 11, of the babies from the fresh embryo transfer group were born prematurely, compared to 120, or about one in 16, in the frozen embryo transfer group. Similar ratios applied to low birth rate.

The article gives a cost data point: The average cost of a fresh in vitro fertilization cycle in the U.S. is $12,400. Freezing embryos can reduce the cost of subsequent cycles to about a third of that.