The possibility to freeze sperm and embryos has long been available to men and women facing infertility as a result of an illness or medical treatment. However, the ability to successfully cryopreserve human eggs is comparatively recent. The introduction and increasing use of egg vitrification from the mid-2000s onwards, alongside the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, has seen improved ongoing clinical pregnancy rates compared with slow freezing methods. Despite concerns, the technology has been widely embraced by the scientific community and in recent years has been applied in a greater variety of contexts. In this short perspective paper, we consider two specific applications for the vitrification of human eggs in routine assisted reproduction practice: social egg freezing and the use of frozen eggs in egg donation. We suggest that vitrification is transforming the reproductive landscape in novel and complex ways and that we must be alert to the challenges, complexities and ethics of such developments, especially for those who may be excluded or marginalised by these techniques.
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November 2019
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Cover Image
Cover Image
This issue's cover features a collection of images to showcase the breadth of topics which raise bioethical questions, many of which are covered in this issue. Image credits (clockwise from top left): andriano. cz/Shutterstock.com; David Parry/PA Wire https://culturedbeef.org/; Peterson and Owen (pages 707–711); Gleadow et al. (pages 723–729).
Perspective|
October 21 2019
On Ice: The impact of vitrification on the use of eggs in fertility treatment Available to Purchase
Kylie Baldwin;
Kylie Baldwin
Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K.
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Douglas Gray
;
Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K.
Correspondence: Douglas Gray ([email protected])
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Nicky Hudson
Nicky Hudson
Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 14 2019
Revision Received:
September 27 2019
Accepted:
October 01 2019
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2019
Emerg Top Life Sci (2019) 3 (6): 713–717.
Article history
Received:
August 14 2019
Revision Received:
September 27 2019
Accepted:
October 01 2019
Citation
Kylie Baldwin, Douglas Gray, Nicky Hudson; On Ice: The impact of vitrification on the use of eggs in fertility treatment. Emerg Top Life Sci 27 November 2019; 3 (6): 713–717. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20190062
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