Evie was conceived using an unconventional IVF method which is supposed to double the likelihood of childless couples having a baby of their own.
Vitrification is the method used to freeze the embryos. The embryo is pushed into liquid nitrogen which instantly freezes it at – 190 degrees Centigrade, without giving any time for crystal formation. The procedures used in the past took about 2-3 hours to freeze the embryo and this damaged it when it was thawed.
Mr and Mrs Bloomer had been trying desperately to have a baby since the last seven years. Mrs. Bloomer, 28 years of age, had endometriosis, a condition which was making it difficult for her to conceive. Normal IVF’s had failed for her repeatedly.
They attended the IVF clinic at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff where their embryo was frozen using the new technique of vitrification.
Evie was born after her embryo was plunged into liquid nitrogen, the coldest form of freezing known to man, before being thawed and then implanted into her mum.
Mrs. Bloomer conceived immediately upon being impregnated by this fast-frozen embryo. She gave birth to a healthy baby weighing 7lb 10oz at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport about eight miles away from the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
Ian and Rebecca are overwhelmed at the thought of finally becoming parents. They were so desperate to have a baby that they were willing to try out any procedure that could aid them in overcoming their problems.
Mrs. Bloomer said, “I hope that if anybody going through the treatment sees us and sees Evie it gives them one last little bit of hope to go for it. It's been a real emotional rollercoaster. There have been ups and downs, but once you get through it and to have Evie now, you forget what you went through. It makes it all worthwhile."
Expressing his delight Ian commented, ”It is 120 per cent worth it. All the heartache we went through was gone the moment she was born.”
So contented are the couple with this technique that they are ready to use it again to have a second baby.
Lyndon Miles, the hospital's head of embryology was elated at the success of his staff. He said that Japan and the US had been very successful in using this technique, but this accomplishment had taken them a step closer to them.
Quoting some hospital statistics he said that his team had helped 17 out of 39 women to conceive using this technique and 4 out of them were carrying twins.
He further added that the success rate of embryo vitrification is 98 per cent while the previous figures hovered between 50 to 80 per cent.
The IVF Freeze technique would mean a lot to those who want to put off having a family for professional reasons and those who are not able to conceive through natural methods or others who may be undergoing chemotherapy and wanted to freeze their eggs lest their medical treatment left them sterile at a later date.
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