The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has decided to allow frozen eggs to be used in infertility treatment following a report showing that the procedure is sufficiently safe.
Until now, infertility clinics in the United Kingdom were allowed to freeze and store human eggs, but they could not be thawed and used in infertility treatment. British infertility clinics have been campaigning vigorously for the ban to be lifted and had threatened to launch a judicial review of the authority's ruling. The technique is widely used elsewhere in the world, particularly in the United States.
The authority decided to lift the ban after commissioning an independent report from Dr Sharon Paynter, lecturer in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff.
The report concludes: “Whilst this technique is not without risk, recent results are very encouraging. Any patient wishing to undertake this option should be fully informed of the risks involved and the chance of success.”
The main risk is that the eggs will not survive the freezing and thawing process. Dr Paynter said that one of the main determining factors of success is the quality of the eggs that are collected. For best results, mature oocytes should be frozen within eight hours of collection. The use of frozen eggs, however, carries a much lower success rate than conventional in vitro fertilisation (1-10%compared with 17%).