Surrogacy in Australia: implantation rates have implications for embryo quality and uterine receptivity

Abstract

Since the passage, in November 1995, of the ACT Substitute Parents Agreement Act, The Canberra Fertility Centre has added a true gestational carrier pregnancy programme to its established infertility and IVF services. Embryos generated are transferred as frozen–thawed embryos to the carrier in an average of 2.2 embryos per transfer. Between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1999 the results of 49 frozen embryo transfers to 25 gestational carriers were compared with 849 frozen embryo transfers on a routine IVF programme. In the carrier group, the embryo implantation rate of 13.8% per embryo transferred is double that of an exactly comparable group of patients undergoing routine frozen–thawed embryo transfer on the same IVF programme and considerably higher than those reported in large series of frozen–thawed embryo transfers. Exclusion from the carrier pregnancy programme of patients with incipient ovarian failure results in an implantation rate of 16.7%, a clinical pregnancy rate of 29.0% and a live birth rate of 19.4% per embryo transfer procedure.