Bring your frozen embryos and sperm to Care

You may not know that if you freeze your embryos or freeze your sperm at another clinic, they can be safely transferred to any IVF Clinic in the UK for storage or fertility treatment; they don't have to be stored at the Clinic they were originally frozen at.

This might be useful if you have moved house, are considering treatment at an alternative IVF Clinic or are already receiving treatment at another Clinic. It is even possible to import frozen samples from a Centre outside the UK.

It might seem like a risky business, transporting precious cargo such as human embryos or sperm, but it is actually an extremely safe and easy process, in fact hundreds of patients have successfully moved their samples to Care over the last 19 years since Care was established. And, you don't have to do it yourself!

Using your frozen embryos and sperm at Care

Care is particularly experienced in receiving frozen embryos and sperm from other clinics and advises a specialized courier service to do the physical transportation. Care will help to arrange the transport, which involves the use of a small tank designed to hold samples at temperatures of -190C for many days, the perfect conditions for frozen embryos and sperm. Care embryologists ensure the samples are safely stored on arrival.

When it comes to using or thawing the frozen samples, the embryologists are able to thaw the embryos or sperm in just the same way as the original Clinic, so treatment is not compromised in any way.

It may be that not all the samples are used in treatment and long-term storage is needed, again this is fine as there will be ample safe and secure storage facilities that will hold that precious cargo for many, many, years.

For more information please contact the Embryology team at your Care clinic. Patient information documents are available to guide you through the process.