Does shipping vitrified embryos to a long-term storage bank affect outcomes?

Objective To assess the pregnancy rate associated with an aggressive policy of moving vitrified embryos to off-site storage. Design Retrospective comparative study Materials and methods Frozen embryo transfers (FETs) in 2019 were reviewed. Only embryos vitrified from autologous patients at the blastocyst stage were included in this evaluation. FETs were grouped into No Shipping (Group A) and Shipping (Group B) categories. The Group A embryos always remained on site, while Group B embryos were shipped to one of two off-site storage facilities and then returned to us when the patient was ready to undergo FET. Shipping included both courier transport and UPS transport. Shipping tanks were unloaded following a procedure developed and validated in our laboratory. Only patients with ongoing pregnancies are included. Results The shipping of vitrified embryos to a long-term storage bank did not decrease pregnancy rates when compared to embryos which remain on site. The increase in pregnancy rate in the shipping group is logical. The patients with embryos shipped off-site were clinically pregnant and not planning on using them soon, while the embryos that were never shipped off-site were patients that were utilizing their frozen embryos. Nearly 80% of patients that had embryos shipped off-site for storage achieved a pregnancy when the embryos were returned to the clinic. Conclusions Shipping vitrified embryos to off-site storage is not detrimental to outcome with subsequent FET. This is a successful strategy for IVF biolaboratories to pursue. Outsourcing storage can ultimately decrease clinic liability and the conundrum of what to do with abandoned embryos. The physical space needed for storage can be greatly reduced. Disclosures Nothing to disclose Funding None