What is ‘Fertility Preservation’ and when would you need it?

Fertility preservation took off as an effort to help patients suffering from cancer to help retain or maintain their fertility to be able to have babies. Since some forms of cancer treatments tend to massively impact the reproductive health of a patient, it is important that patients are aware of the options to protect or conserve fertility prior to starting these treatments.

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With the growing tech, the option of fertility preservation is offered to people not just suffering from cancer but with other diseases, disorders, and life events that affect fertility. The following group of women may benefit from fertility preservation such as:

1. Women suffering from uterine fibroids or endometriosis.
2. Have had life-changing events – such as accidents.
3. People suffering from autoimmune diseases or genetic diseases that may impact fertility in the future.
4. Situations which may lead to having children late on in one’s life.

Options for fertility preservation are offered to both men and women alike, and some of these options offered are:

1. Sperm cryopreservation in men where semen samples are frozen and stored for future use in a process called cryopreservation.
2. Gonadal shielding for men or women who may be undergoing radiation treatment for cancer, especially in the pelvic area.
3. Embryo cryopreservation is the most common and successful option for preserving a female’s fertility. Eggs are removed from women and fertilized with sperm from the partner and embryos are frozen and stored for future use. This uses IVF.
4. Oocyte cryopreservation. This option is similar to embryo cryopreservation, except that unfertilized eggs are frozen and stored.
5. Ovarian transposition is where a minor surgery to move the ovaries and sometimes the fallopian tubes from the area that will receive radiation to an area that will not receive radiation.

Refer to a fertility specialist to understand more about fertility preservations. Find out more about various procedures and choose carefully. Ask your specialists questions about the procedure your body will respond to.

We hope this information is helpful. For a more detailed discussion, Book an Appointment here.

DR.S.VYJAYANTHI

MD, DGO, DNB, MRCOG, MSc (Embryology, UK)

Head of Department and Consultant Fertility Specialist