Egg freezing is an incredible advancement that’s opened up new opportunities for people to optimize their future fertility. More and more people are turning to this option to take control of their reproductive timeline. But one of the biggest limitations we’ve faced in the past is that egg freezing has largely been a numbers game.
What do you mean by “a numbers game”?
When you freeze your eggs, we don’t actually know how many of those eggs will lead to a healthy baby. That’s because it’s been extremely difficult to assess the quality of each egg. Even highly trained embryologists can’t accurately determine egg quality just by looking at them under a microscope. There’s no validated visual scoring system for egg quality. So traditionally, we’ve relied on two factors:
Age (which is the best available predictor of egg quality)
Quantity (the more eggs, the better your chances)
But here’s the thing: not all 39-year-olds have the same egg quality. And even within one egg retrieval, not all eggs are created equal.
So where does artificial intelligence (AI) come in?
This is where AI has really changed the game. A company called Future Fertility has developed a technology called VIOLET™, which uses AI to evaluate the quality of eggs, non-invasively and individually, using only microscope images taken after the egg retrieval.
They’ve built the world’s largest dataset of egg images (150,000+) and their associated real-world outcomes like fertilization success and blastocyst development. Based on this data, the VIOLET™ AI tool can now:
Assess the quality of each individual egg
Predict the chance of live birth for the full cohort of eggs
Provide each egg freezing patient with a personalized egg quality report including images of their mature eggs, they can take home for review and future reference
What does this mean for patients?
For the first time, patients can receive individualized feedback on the eggs they’ve frozen. It’s no longer just about how many eggs were retrieved — it’s about what those eggs might be capable of.
This gives fertility specialists more meaningful information to:
Set more realistic expectations for success based on the patient’s unique egg images
Discuss whether additional cycles may be needed to retrieve more eggs and increase the cumulative chance of success (it is possible to receive a Violet Summary report that provides insights across multiple freezing cycles!)
Adjust future treatment plans to try to improve egg yield or quality
What’s the big takeaway?
AI is transforming egg freezing by changing how we set expectations for success. In the past, expectations were based largely on general statistical estimates tied to age and egg count. Now, with tools like VIOLET™, we can move beyond those averages and provide a personalized understanding of your egg quality and potential.
This means patients get a clearer, more tailored view of what their frozen eggs might be capable of, helping both patients and clinicians make more informed decisions about next steps in their fertility journey.
Watch Dr. Nayot explain how AI can help improve egg freezing.
Dr. Dan Nayot is a reproductive endocrinologist and the Medical Director of The Fertility Partners, a leading network of fertility clinics across North America. He is the co-founder of Future Fertility, a Canadian med-tech startup harnessing artificial intelligence to transform reproductive medicine, and HaloHealth, an organization supporting early-stage health tech ventures. As an executive board member of Fertility Matters Canada, Dr. Nayot actively advocates for equitable access to fertility care. His work reflects a deep commitment to driving innovation and expanding accessibility of fertility treatments.
