Fertility preservation refers to a medical and/or surgical intervention aimed at preserving eggs, sperm or reproductive tissues, in patients who want to have the opportunity of having a biological offspring in the future.
These techniques are available for different groups whose fertility may be threatened, consisting in:
- Immunological pathologies: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), among others.
- Gynecological pathologies: Benign and borderline ovarian tumors . Endometriosis.
- Hematological pathologies: Those that may require stem cell transplantation such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia major, aplastic anemia, and others.
- Genetic pathologies: Mosaic Turner Syndrome, Klinefelter Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, BRCA mutations.
REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE CAN TACKLE ALL THESE SITUATIONS
These are some of the alternatives:
Oocyte vitrification (freezing) for young women. It has been a standard technique since 2013 and it is performed with hormonal stimulation followed by oocyte retrieval under anesthesia.
Semen cryopreservation (freezing) and storage for adolescent and adult men. It is a validated strategy used for several decades for fertility preservation and it is performed in most cases, by obtaining the sample by masturbation.
Cryopreservation of testicular and ovarian tissue. While cryopreservation of testicular tissue in boys is still an experimental technique, cryopreservation of ovarian tissue in girls is no longer considered experimental since 2019 and there are already hundreds of healthy boys and girls whose mothers underwent this procedure. It consists of obtaining ovarian tissue samples through a simple and ambulatory surgical procedure (laparoscopic), before the patient begins her oncological treatment. These samples are cryopreserved to be used by the patient in the future. An autologous transplant of ovarian tissue is performed by laparoscopy.
