Michelle Lorraine Embleton, biochemist at inviTRA, tells us in this video about how long frozen embryos can be stored after and IVF treatment. As Michelle explains:
Before starting your IVF treatment you will be informed about the possible destinations for embryos that are leftover after the treatment, and required to sign the approproate consent forms beforehand. The most common choice is to freeze (vitrify) the embryos for future use. You clinic will then need to contact you periodically to renew the consent for storage. This is every 2 years in Spain and every 5 years in the UK.
However, it is happening that after a successful treatment, patients are not responding to communication from the clinic to renew the consent for storage. In the UK and Spain, in the renewal of consent for starge is not signed, the embryos will eventually be destroyed.
In the US there is a mounting and controversial problem as to what to do with the increasing amount of "abandoned embryos".
