Immediate versus postponed blastocyst transfer in stimulated or programmed frozen embryo transfer cycles - a protocol for a non-blinded randomised clinical trial

INTRODUCTION: It is standard clinical practice to postpone frozen embryo transfer (FET) for at least one menstrual cycle after a failed fresh embryo transfer or a freeze-all cycle. Delaying FET has been hypothesised to minimise the negative effect of controlled ovarian stimulation. However, this practice may be associated with increased psychological distress and delayed time to pregnancy. In this clinical study, we aim to investigate whether immediate SC- or PC-FET is non-inferior to postponed SC- and PC-FET in terms of live birth rate (LBR).

METHODS: The study is designed as a multicentre, randomised controlled, non-blinded, non-inferiority trial. A total of 484 women aged 18-45 years who are set to undergo SC- or PC-FET will be included in the trial. Participants will be randomised 1:1 to FET in the first cycle after a failed fresh transfer or freeze all (FET immediate) or to FET in a subsequent cycle (FET postponed). The main outcome will be LBR.

CONCLUSIONS: If immediate FET proves to be as efficient and safe as postponed FET, immediate FET offers various advantages, such as a shorter time to pregnancy for couples who did not conceive in the fresh cycle and lower expenses due to a shorter freezing time.

FUNDING: This work was supported by a research grant from Merck Denmark. Merck Denmark was in no way involved in the design of the study and will not be involved in the analysis or interpretation of results.

CLINICALTRIALS: gov (NCT06304792).