ABSTRACT
The development of protocols to cryopreserve human oocytes has been dominated by an empirical approach. While the result of this approach has been impressive in the sense that human beings have been born from cryopreserved oocytes, there is much room for improvement in several respects. For material as precious as human oocytes, the fraction of oocytes recovered after cryopreservation must be increased. In addition, the factors leading to non-reproducible results need to be identifi ed with the goal of minimizing or eliminating non-reproducibility. Finally, an improved understanding of the basic principles governing the response of human oocytes to the complex processing involved in cryopreservation protocols is also necessary.
