Fertility preservation is a medical process of saving or protecting your eggs, sperm, or reproductive organs so that you can use them to have biological children in the future. The process is mainly used for people with specific health issues or medical treatments that can lead to infertility, for example, endometriosis, reproductive system cancers, and genetic disorders. Eggs and reproductive tissues are preserved in the lab so that they can be implanted in your body after recovering from your health problem. If you are struggling with a condition affecting your fertility, you should consider Wayne fertility preservation to help you realize your dream of becoming a parent in the future.
Embryo freezing
Embryo freezing is an effective way to preserve fertility in women. Your doctor will remove mature eggs from ovaries and put them in a sterile lab dish with active thousands of sperm with the aim of one sperm fertilizing the egg. This procedure is known as in vitro fertilization (IVF). In vitro intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI), your specialist will take a single sperm and inject it directly into your egg to fertilize it. In both IVF and IVF-ICSI, the doctors observe the lab dish, and if fertilization takes place, the embryo is frozen. The embryo will be thawed and put in your uterus when a patient is ready to conceive.
Egg freezing
Egg freezing is a reliable fertilization method, although many people do not use it compared to embryo freezing. It can be good if you do not have a partner or do not want to use embryo freezing techniques due to religious issues. The process involves your doctor removing eggs from your ovaries and freezing them before fertilizing with sperm. Eggs will be thawed, fertilized by your sperm donor, and finally implanted in your uterus to attain pregnancy.
Ovarian tissue freezing
Ovarian tissue freezing involves surgical removal of all or part of the ovary. The removed tissue is cut into small strips, frozen, and stored. The ovarian tissue is thawed and placed in your pelvis when a patient is ready to conceive. If the transplanted tissue starts to function again, doctors collect eggs and fertilize them in the lab. This procedure can be done before or after puberty.
Ovarian transposition
Ovarian transposition involves moving the ovaries from the target area of treatment, for example, radiation in cancer chemotherapy. It is primarily used in females having pelvic radiation. Doctors can use this method in females before or after puberty. Your surgeon will move your ovaries above and side of the central pelvic area. Since the ovaries tend to return to their original position, your doctor will perform the transposition just before radiation. This method may not protect ovaries from chemotherapy effects due to radiation scatter, so it is maybe unsuccessful.
Fertility-sparing surgery
Surgeons do the procedure for early-stage cervical cancer patients. Your surgeon will remove the cervix without removing the uterus or ovaries. If you have early-stage ovarian cancer affecting one ovary, the surgeon will safely remove the affected ovary. This process helps to preserve fertility in both cases of cancer.
If you consider having fertilization preservation, visit your doctor to discuss the best method fit for you. Schedule a consultation with University Reproductive Associates to learn more about fertility preservation.
