Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)

Cost
The cost of the FET procedure itself is anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 USD, depending on the fertility clinic and not including medication or donor embryo(s) or donor sperm and eggs.

Donor options
Some women are able to go through FET after a failed IVF cycle, if there are embryos or eggs remaining that were cryopreserved.  However, FET is also possible through donor options: embryo adoption, or a combination of sperm and egg donors.

For embryo adoption, you may be able to find a clinic that offers embryo adoptions in-house.  However, for most women it requires finding an embryo to “adopt” from another woman who went through IVF and had her remaining embryos cryopreserved, but no longer has need of them.  There are organizations and companies that will assist in the search, which can be found online and through fertility clinic recommendations. For sperm and egg donors, once the sperm and eggs have been secured it is a simple process of fertilization 

Leading up to FET
In order to prepare for your treatment, your fertility clinic will order a series of blood work to determine course of action to help get your body prepared.  It is possible that your insurance will cover such testing, if it is performed by an in-network lab. It is also possible, if you are using a fertility clinic but live several hours away, to coordinate some of the testing and monitoring efforts with your OB/GYN office.

FET, IVF, INVOcell and sometimes IUI procedures all require hormone medication in order to prepare the body for the procedures and those medications come in the form of self-administered injectables.  Typically, you will need to inject medications for up to 10 days but some clinics may have their patients inject for longer periods of time both before and after your procedure. While the injections beforehand are designed to enhance ovulation, progesterone injections may be prescribed afterwards in order to aid implantation and help prevent miscarriage.

Usually, the injection sites are either in the belly or front of your thigh and while this may sound too difficult to tackle on your own, it is often not nearly as traumatic as it is imagined it to be.  If you notice unusual symptoms (redness, bruising, irritation, etc) near the injection areas, contact your fertility clinic for advice; if that happens and you are using more than one medication at a time, your clinic may ask you to inject each medication into a separate location so you can identify exactly which medication is causing the reaction.

What to expect during FET
To prepare you for FET on transfer day, the doctor will administer mild pain medication and/or a mild sedative.  A long, flexible tube will then be inserted through the cervix into the uterus to transfer the embryo(s) into your uterus.

If the procedure was successful, an embryo will implant into the uterus within 10 days after egg retrieval day.

What to expect after FET
As with all other fertility treatment options, you may experience cramping after FET and this is completely normal.  It is best to take it easy for the remainder of the embryo transfer day. From this point onward, it is best to behave as though you are already pregnant: eat well, pamper yourself, and avoid extreme temperatures and strenuous activities (light exercise is good, but avoid HIIT and stop if you feel discomfort or pain, avoid raising your core body temperature and keep your heart rate under 140).

Your fertility clinic may want to monitor you further, but typically clinics only need to be notified if the procedure was a success (after being confirmed by a BETA test performed by your physician or OB/GYN).  Find out what to expect during the two week wait (tww)!