Dear All,

My wife and I are going abroad (to Cape Town South Africa specifcally) for IVF fertility treatments -- we cannot afford them here. We leave in a few weeks and the procedure will be August 2nd.

We expect the procedure will produce "extra" embryos, i.e. beyond those that will be "transferred" to her on the spot. We want to bring those embryos back to the U.S. so that if the first transfer doesn't work we can try again immediately -- through our fertility specialist in Pennsylvania (who has agreed to do it) rather than flying back to South Africa etc.

Does anyone have ANY idea or guidance or counsel about if this can be done, i.e. frozen embryos brought back into the U.S. With which agencies would we need to check and get clearance? Can we transport them ourselves on the plane or would they need to be shipped? If the latter, how does that work -- and will Homeland Security issues cause a barrier?

I know that's a lot to ask. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

G/C

Dear Embryo Transferrer,

How do you transport frozen embryos? I am in the process of transporting my frozen embryos from San Francisco to India, and I am not sure which transport company can carry them long distance and still not affect their viability? These embryos are from previous IVF cycles and I am looking to implant them into a surrogate mother in India where it can be done a lot cheaper. Can you help?

Thanks,
R & S