Fertility Treatments For Women
Methods include ways to preserve fertility as well as carry a pregnancy safely. Our specialists will explain which options may be helpful in your situation:
Embryo Freezing
- Most proven method of fertility preservation for women
- Ovaries hormonally stimulated to produce multiple eggs
- Eggs removed and fertilized in laboratory with sperm from partner or donor – a process called in vitro fertilization (IVF)
- Embryos created by IVF frozen for future use, may be kept frozen indefinitely
Egg Freezing
- Ovaries stimulated as in IVF
- Eggs removed and frozen without fertilization
- May be appropriate for women who do not want to use donor sperm
- Pregnancy rates from frozen eggs are slightly lower than from frozen embryos
Ovarian Tissue Freezing
- Highly experimental
- Ovarian tissue removed, frozen, then implanted later to develop eggs
- Eggs then removed, fertilized and re-implanted
- Worldwide, only a few babies have been born from this method
Ovarian Shielding
- Reduces damage to ovaries and eggs during radiation treatment by placing special shields over area of pelvis not receiving radiation
Ovarian Transposition
- Surgically moves ovaries away from area being radiated
- May cause loss of ovarian function
Fertility-Sparing Surgery
- Certain gynecologic cancers may be removed with surgical approaches that retain reproductive function – Avoids full hysterectomy, which would end ability to become pregnant
Other Options
- If cancer treatment damages ovaries, donor eggs or donor embryos can be used
- A gestational surrogate may be an option if you cannot carry a pregnancy after cancer treatment