First baby from frozen egg born in Al Ain

A baby, conceived from frozen human eggs, has been born at Tawam Hospital that used a latest preservation technology for rapid freezing of the eggs. The hospital on Monday announced the birth as the first from a pregnancy conceived with vitrified-thawed oocytes (eggs) that were rapidly frozen and later thawed for insemination. "The infant, delivered at full-term, is the first baby born at Tawam since vitrification was adopted as the hospital's preferred assistive reproductive procedure in March 2011," said an official of the hospital, adding that the baby is healthy. Dr Fatheya Sharif, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Head of Tawam Hospital's Fertility Unit, said that the birth of the baby has huge implications for women in the region concerned about preserving their fertility. "In the future we hope to implement oocytes freezing as an option for young women with cancer who run the risk of having no viable oocytes following aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which can often leave patients infertile," he said. The vitrification process differs to the traditional approach in terms of the length of time it takes to freeze the human eggs. Before vitrification, he said, embryologists used a controlled-cooling system to freeze oocytes. It is regarded as slow freezing by the experts as it require two to three hours. The process commonly results in the formation of ice crystals within egg cells, which can significantly reduce survival rates of the eggs after warming to just 50 per cent. Dr Sharif said vitrification uses high concentrations of cryoprotectants (the substance used to protect tissue from freezing damage) and an extremely high cooling rate of -20,000 to -25,000ºC per minute. The process solidifies the eggs without the formation of ice crystal. In this process eggs are immersed directly into liquid nitrogen to be transit the oocytes from 37 degrees Celcius to -196 degrees Celcius in less than one second. The frozen eggs are then stored for future use. Recent studies have reported that vitrification method found to be effective and gentler to the oocytes with 95 per cent survival rate after warming as compared with the slow freezing technique. Pregnancy rate, using the vitrification technique, is also significantly higher than the traditional technique. He said the technology has enabled Tawam Fertility Unit to preserve eggs safely and reliably and generate a pregnancy potential comparable to fresh oocytes. "Our policy is to assess and adopt only the most successful strategies and techniques in fertility medicine to provide international standard results," said Dr Sharif. The unit, he said, has achieved a 38 per cent pregnancy rate. "We are pleased to announce the first baby born after frozen thawed oocytes, which bodes well for a successful and promising 2012," he added. Established in May 1990, Tawam Hospital's Fertility Unit is a state-of-the-art fertility program, bringing the latest advances in reproductive medicine to married couples residing in UAE and the Middle East. Tawam Hospital is part of the SEHA Health System and is owned and operated by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC, which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.