Baby Born from Frozen Egg

Today marks the birth of the first baby born from frozen egg.
The baby created from an egg that had been matured in the laboratory, frozen, thawed and then fertilized, was born in Canada, scientists announced today. Scientists hoped that this will be a viable option for women who became infertile due to certain types of cancer.

McGill Reproductive Center in Montreal, Canada led this study. Three other women are pregnant by the same laboratory technique. All are part of a clinical trial at the McGill Reproductive Center of 20 patients with an average age of 30 who were infertile due to polycystic ovaries.

Oocytes (eggs before they mature) were collected from patients and matured in the the lab before freezing. The eggs remained frozen for no longer than a few months before they were thawed. After that eggs were fertilized with a type of sperm-injection technique. The the embryos were planted back to the patients.

But this process is still being studied by scientists for cancer patients.