Woman’s fertility restored after chemo
[Via Health News from NHS Choices]
An experimental technique has allowed a woman to successfully have two children after chemotherapy, several newspapers have reported.
The mother, Dr Stinne Bergholdt of Denmark, had part of her right ovary removed and frozen prior to chemotherapy for a rare bone cancer. Although the powerful anti-cancer drugs made her infertile, she was later able to conceive two children once the frozen tissue was thawed and re-implanted. Dr Bergholdt and her two daughters, born in 2007 and in 2008, are reported to be healthy.
This research is encouraging as it is said to be the first time that a woman has had two separate pregnancies following the transplant of ‘frozen and thawed’ ovarian tissue. Dr Bergholdt’s doctor, Professor Claus Yding Andersen, told The Times that the result “should encourage the development of this technique as a clinical procedure for girls and young women facing treatment that could damage their ovaries”.
However, it is important to remember that this is only a single case, and questions remain over how successful or safe this technique might be for other women. Only time will tell whether further cases of ovarian tissue re-implantation will be as successful as in this interesting but very early research.
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There are a lot of procedures that destroy fertility. Using homologous transplantation to restore the ability to have children is a wonderful step forward.
I just wonder how expensive this will be and whether only rich people will be able to use it.
A Man With A Ph.D. 