Cryo-shipping of Embryos and Sperm to India for Surrogacy
February 11th, 2009The process of surrogacy in India involves two visits to India: sperm deposition, IVF, and embryo transfer are done during the first visit, and the next visit is to bring your baby home after the delivery.
Thanks to the embryo and sperm overseas transfer service provided by our partner fertility clinic in India, the first trip may now be totally avoided. On the first trip, the male partner is typically required to stay in Mumbai for 3-5 days, and the female partner has to stay for almost two weeks.
Because of work pressures or any other reason, it may not be possible for everyone to stay so long in India. Cryopreservation and frozen embryo/sperm transfer abroad come to the rescue in such a situation.
What is cryopreservation of embryos and sperm?
Cryopreservation is ‘a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, such as (typically) 77 K or −196 °C (the boiling point of liquid nitrogen). At these low temperatures, any biological activity, including the biochemical reactions that would lead to cell death, is effectively stopped.’ (Source: Wikipedia.)
Our partner fertility clinic in India allows those interested in surrogacy to send their cryo-preserved embryos and sperm to India. This way, the intended parents have to travel only once to India, that is, to bring their baby home.
Does cryopreservation affect the success of IVF or conception?
Studies have shown that frozen sperm are as good as fresh sperm when it comes to the success rates of IVF. Freezing sperm for later use is advantageous not only for those men who cannot travel to deposit sperm on the day of oocyte retrieval, but is also great for men who require surgical extraction of sperm because of some medical conditions. Also, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer patients can make men infertile. In such cases, too, semen is frozen for later use.
With frozen sperm, there is no worry about not being able to donate a sample on egg retrieval day. Also, if one IVF cycle fails for some reason, there is no need to physically go and deposit sperm for another round of IVF.
Frozen embryos, on the other hand, may affect the success rate of surrogacy in some cases. Our partner fertility clinic in India has recorded a success rate of 50-60% with fresh embryos, whereas with frozen embryos it is only 40%.
How safe is shipping embryo to India or international sperm shipping?
The human embryo/sperm shipment service offered by our partner clinic is in arrangement with DHL. The cryo-shipping service is offered in all places in the world where DHL’s network exists and is being successfully used by our clients throughout the world. The cryo-shipment is not subjected to X-ray scans at airports customs. Hence, you can be assured about the safety of your embryos or sperm.
Please note that some states in the US require that semen be quarantined for a year before it is shipped out of the country. You can know your state’s rules on sending human sperm abroad by getting in touch with your sperm bank.
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