Developments in Embryo and Oocyte Banking

Abstract

Imagine a 20-year-old college student diagnosed with Hodgkin’s’ disease, facing chemotherapy that will be likely to cause ovarian failure and render her sterile. Imagine too a 35-year-old woman, unmarried and rising rapidly in the ranks of a major corporation. She is aware that her biological clock is ticking, but also that taking time off work at this time to have children may impede her career progress and perhaps make her forfeit her dream of becoming a CEO. Will there be a time when women can cryopreserve their oocytes for future use? If the oocytes are never used, can they be placed in a bank for use by unrelated women? Imagine a couple that has undergone IVF, and after two cycles have three healthy children, but have embryos cryopreserved that they never want to use, but wish to donate to other infertile couples. What of “ orphaned” embryos, no longer wanted by the couples who produced them. Will there ever be a time when these excess embryos can be banked, for use by women or couples who cannot conceive on their own, or who have genetic conditions that make them unwilling to pass on their DNA? The era of oocyte and embryo banking is rapidly approaching. The ART literature is beginning to expand to include ideas about oocyte and embryo cryopreservation and banking.1 This chapter outlines the state of the art in oocyte and embryo cryopreservation and speculates about how oocyte and embryo banking may be organized in the future.