A fresh cycle is an IVF cycle using eggs for fertilisation and embryos which have never been frozen.
After egg collection, your eggs are fertilised with sperm (fresh or frozen) in the laboratory within hours of being harvested; thereafter will be left to develop for 3, or ideally 5, days before the resulting embryo is transferred in to the uterus.
Your fertility specialist decides the ‘protocol’ (medication regime that you follow). ‘Long protocol’ is the standard regime, typically involving daily injections of drugs to first of all suppress natural hormonal function (down-regulation) followed by stimulation of the ovaries.
If it is suspected that there may be either high or low ovarian reserve based on the AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) levels and AFC (antral follicle count), a ‘short protocol’ is recommended, and you proceed directly to the stimulation stage without first undergoing down-regulation.
In a frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle, embryos created during a fresh cycle and then frozen are thawed and transferred back into your uterus.
FET cycles can be performed at any time following the fresh cycle provided you are physically and emotionally ready.
As embryos already exist, there is no need for you to undergo ovarian stimulation and egg collection as you would in a fresh cycle.
FET cycles can be either hormone-regulated or natural. In a hormone-regulated cycle, you are prescribed progesterone and oestrogen hormones to help prepare the lining of your uterus for embryo implantation.
Speak to our fertility specialists to find out more – you can contact us online here.
