Embryo banking involves creating embryos in the laboratory by fertilizing mature eggs with either a partner’s or donor’s sperm, and then freezing the resulting embryos for future use. This proactive approach allows individuals or couples to “batch” embryos over several cycles or simply preserve their current fertility potential before age or medical treatments impact egg quality.
To obtain eggs, the individual with ovaries undergoes a course of daily hormone injections known as controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. Typically lasting 10 to 12 days, this stimulation aims to develop multiple follicles simultaneously. Throughout this phase, your clinic will closely monitor progress via blood work and ultrasounds. When maturation is complete, the eggs are collected through a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure called egg retrieval.
The procedure is performed under light anesthetic sedation to ensure comfort, and the physician uses ultrasound guidance to retrieve eggs without making any cuts or incisions on your body. Embryologists then evaluate the egg(s) for maturity, perform fertilization through standard insemination or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) when appropriate, and monitor embryo development in a controlled laboratory environment.
Once fertilized in the lab, the resulting high-quality embryos are carefully frozen using advanced vitrification technology and can be stored safely for many years, offering flexible, reliable options for future family-building efforts.