Two embryos remain frozen at Mater Dei Hospital, because the prospective mother has not yet recovered from an illness, according to the Embryo Protection Authority.
This remains the only case of embryo freezing since in vitro fertilisation started being regulated by law four years ago.
The information comes from the authority’s annual report for 2016, which showed a drop of five per cent in the pregnancy rate compared to the previous year.
Embryo freezing is prohibited by law except in instances where the fertilised eggs cannot be transferred because of exceptional circumstances.
This case was first flagged last November, when Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed in Parliament that two embryos had to be frozen because the woman fell ill before the transfer procedure had taken place.
The Embryo Protection Authority’s annual report confirmed that the transfer procedure had not been done yet by the time the report was concluded last month.
“Embryos are still in storage until the prospective mother is fit to undergo embryo transfer,” the report said.
Embryo freezing is ethically contentious, and doctors have to seek the authority’s consent to freeze fertilised eggs in special cases like this.
Doctors must seek authority’s consent to freeze eggs in special cases like this
The Embryo Protection Authority regulates all clinics that offer assisted reproduction services.
The 2016 annual report showed that 228 couples had undergone 273 in vitro cycles. These resulted in 64 pregnancies, or 23.4 per cent of all cycles.
The pregnancy rate was almost five per cent lower than that for 2015.
Of the 64 pregnancies, 14 resulted in live births, 43 were expecting and seven miscarried.
The free IVF service offered through the public health service at Mater Dei accounted for 202 cycles, while 71 cycles were done in the private sector.
Half of the couples that underwent IVF procedures were doing so for the first time. All the couples were Maltese.
The authority said there was a marked decrease in medical tourism in the fertility sector last year compared to the previous two years. In 2015 and 2014, five and 13 foreigners who came to Malta for IVF treatment, respectively. There were none last year.
The report gave a breakdown of the results achieved by using fresh ova and previously frozen eggs. The law allows unfertilised eggs to be frozen.
Out of the 273 procedures, 71 per cent used fresh eggs. The rest used thawed eggs, while in one instance the couple opted for a combined cycle using one fresh egg and one thawed. The use of fresh eggs resulted in 47 pregnancies, while thawed eggs resulted in 17 pregnancies.
The 2016 pregnancy rate for cycles using fresh eggs was almost three per cent higher than that for thawed cycles.
The authority last year received 172 requests from doctors to be able to fertilise three eggs for implantation. Authorisation was granted in 65 per cent of the cases.
The law only allows two eggs to be fertilised and transferred to a woman, but the authority can authorise three eggs if doctors feel it is necessary to increase the chances of pregnancy.
The report noted there was an increase in sperm storage last year: 73 male patients choosing to vitrify their sperm. In most cases, the men had been diagnosed with cancer or urological problems and wanted to preserve fertility.
Of these patients, 29 proceeded with an IVF cycle last year, but only nine used thawed sperm for the procedure.
Egg numbers
1,630: The number of eggs collected from women after stimulation
871: The number of discarded eggs deemed unsuitable by embryologist
31: The maximum number of eggs collected from a single patient
0: No eggs were produced by three patients despite hormonal stimulation
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com