Cookies


ESHRE ® uses cookies to improve your browsing experience on its website, as defined in the Cookie Policy (as updated on 18/03/2024). Strictly necessary cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of the Website – therefore, you cannot refuse them. Other, non-strictly necessary cookies are only placed if you consent to their use. Read more about it in our Cookie Policy. Do you agree with our use of non-strictly necessary cookies?
Manage my cookie preferences

Frozen Embryo Transfer: All you need to know in 2027

Precongress Course 7

  SIG Reproductive Endocrinology Special Interest Group Reproductive Endocrinology


Course coordinators
Christos Venetis (Greece) and Christophe Blockeel (Belgium)


Course type
Advanced

Course description
Frozen embryo transfer (FET) now accounts for the majority of transfers in many countries, but endometrial preparation, luteal support and patient selection vary widely between units, often without evidence to justify the variation. This course will review the FET pathway end to end: registry evidence on the shift to freeze-all, a formal debate on natural versus artificial cycle preparation, the pharmacology and monitoring of progesterone, and the management of difficult scenarios including thin endometrium and adenomyosis. The final session addresses obstetric risk, the long-term health of FET-conceived children, and AI-assisted individualisation of preparation and transfer timing.


Educational needs and expected outcomes 
Needs were derived from the ESHRE EIM registry data on the rise of FET, systematic reviews showing low-certainty evidence for endometrial preparation and luteal support, documented inter-centre variation in practice, and feedback from recent ESHRE educational activities. Participants need to individualise the decision to segment, select preparation and progesterone protocols on evidence, manage thin endometrium and uterine pathology without unsupported add-ons, and counsel on obstetric risks etc.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Knowledge:

  • Summarise the evidence on freeze-all outcomes
  • Explain how progesterone pharmacokinetics differ by route of administration
  • Describe the obstetric and long-term child health risks of frozen embryo transfer (FET)

Skills:

  • Select an endometrial preparation protocol based on evidence rather than logistics
  • Respond appropriately to progesterone levels on the day of transfer
  • Manage thin endometrium and uterine pathology
  • Counsel patients accurately in situations of uncertainty

Higher-order thinking:

  • Defend a position on natural versus programmed FET cycles
  • Distinguish evidence-supported interventions from unsupported routine practice
  • Judge AI-based individualisation against adoption standards

Attitudes:

  • Critically review their own unit's protocols 
  • Wait for new technologies to be validated before adopting them


Innovative aspects of the course
The course is innovative in framing rather than format. Corpus luteum physiology runs through the days programme as a unifying thread, linking endometrial preparation protocol to obstetric outcome and long-term child health. Which are domains usually taught separately. It covers the full FET pathway from segmentation to offspring health, brings laboratory decision-making before a clinical audience, and appraises AI-personalised preparation before such tools reach routine use.



Target audience
Clinicians, embryologists, nurses and trainees involved in ART

 

Programme



Sunday 04 July 2027