Hi Victoria, You asked me:  Do previously cryopreserved embryos develop similarly to fresh embryos so that, if one is attempting an e-SET, growing them out is one way to determine the ‘best’ one or are they somehow more fragile? How well thawed embryos grow out depend on several factors: method of freezing and thawing (Vitrification [...]

I have written before on the topic of medical tourism, the practice of seeking medical care oversees because it is less expensive or because you can only get the services you want overseas and not in your home country. I blogged about this in two previous posts , Affordable IVF and Global Outsourcing of IVF. [...]

IVF frequently upends old law that existed before IVF was created. Original laws regarding who is eligible for social security survivor benefits may be a case in point. The 1939 Social Security Act states that Social Security survivor’s benefits go to any child of a covered deceased individual. To further complicate things, social security looks [...]

When is surrogacy not really surrogacy? The recent legal case of attorney Theresa Erickson sheds considerable light on at least one way to manipulate and defraud both intended parents and gestational carriers and redefine surrogacy as baby-selling for personal gain. Most IVF programs in the US will produce embryos for couples (usually using their own [...]

I get a lot of questions from you (Q from U) about assisted hatching so here is more on that topic. What is assisted hatching (AH) ? Assisted hatching is a technique used by embryologists to produce an opening in the outer shell of the egg called the zona pellucida.  We talk about hatching in [...]

Hi Readers, I am starting a new series, called Questions from You (Q from U), in which I answer some of the common patient questions I get from my contact email. Recently, I seem to be getting more questions about embryo biopsy for PGD. In the beginning, PGD biopsy meant biopsy of one (or at [...]