Frozen Embryo Transfer
For many embarking on their fertility journey, a Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) cycle offers a wonderful opportunity to achieve pregnancy using embryos that were carefully frozen after an earlier IVF treatment. It’s a well-established process designed to support your dream of starting or growing your family.
During an FET cycle, your embryos are carefully thawed and then placed into your uterus.
This crucial step is precisely timed to align with your natural menstrual cycle or to a cycle that has been prepared with medication, ensuring your uterus (specifically the lining, called the endometrium) is perfectly ready to welcome the embryos. You may be given hormone support to help your endometrium become receptive, or we can work in harmony with your body’s natural cycle.
The FET process is designed to be relatively simple and can be performed either in a natural cycle without medication or in a medicated cycle, depending on what’s best for you.
During an FET cycle, your embryos are carefully thawed and then placed into your uterus.
This crucial step is precisely timed to align with your natural menstrual cycle or to a cycle that has been prepared with medication, ensuring your uterus (specifically the lining, called the endometrium) is perfectly ready to welcome the embryos. You may be given hormone support to help your endometrium become receptive, or we can work in harmony with your body’s natural cycle.
The FET process is designed to be relatively simple and can be performed either in a natural cycle without medication or in a medicated cycle, depending on what’s best for you.
Your journey begins with a consultation and a few scans to ensure your body is perfectly prepared. Since the embryo already exists, this treatment does not involve the ovarian stimulation or egg collection steps of a fresh IVF cycle.
About two weeks before your expected period, you’ll have a chance to come into the clinic to discuss your specific treatment plan with our team. Once your treatment begins, you’ll have several ultrasound scans to monitor the development of your uterine lining, ensuring it’s at its most receptive for the transfer.
The procedure itself is quite gentle and doesn’t require any anaesthesia, as it should not cause significant discomfort.
When considering an FET, you essentially have two main pathways: a natural cycle FET or a medication-controlled FET.
In a natural cycle FET, we allow your uterine lining to thicken naturally, just as it would during your regular menstrual cycle. We’ll monitor your cycle and the thickness of your uterus with ultrasound scans, so we know the perfect moment to trigger ovulation. Once ovulation has been triggered, the embryo transfer will typically take place about one week afterwards. Depending on your personal treatment plan, you may be offered progesterone support during the second half of your cycle.
Most FET procedures are medication-controlled. This approach can be particularly helpful if your cycle isn’t very regular, as it allows us to precisely time the embryo transfer. We’ll use hormones to encourage your uterus to develop the optimal thickness for embryo implantation, and we’ll check its progress regularly with ultrasound scans. Once your uterus has reached the right thickness, we can begin the second part of your hormone medication, and the FET will be completed about one week later.
The medication-controlled FET generally doesn’t take any longer than a natural cycle, though the exact timing can depend on how quickly your uterus responds to the medication and thickens.