The use of portable CO₂incubator for cross-border shipping of embryos in an international egg donation program

Two groups of egg recipients were treated, one in situ (165 patients; 195 cycles) and one after cross-border embryo transportation (340 cycles; 340 cycles) using mobile CO2 incubator. The positive pregnancy rate per cycle was 199/340 (58.6%) and 99/195 (50.7%) in the transportation and the traveling group, respectively (NS). The clinical pregnancy rate (fetal heart beat) was 48.1 and 43.1% per embryo transfer cycle, respectively (NS) and the delivery rate was 44.1 and 35.9% per embryo transfer cycle, respectively (p=0.01). Long distance transportation of human pre-implantation embryos using portable CO2 incubator is safe and do not jeopardize their developmental potential.