Baby born following ovary transplant

A woman from Edinburgh has become the first to give birth to a baby boy following a transplant of her own ovary tissue, after it was frozen during cancer treatment.  The 33 year old women, who conceived naturally, had part of her ovary frozen 11 years ago whilst undergoing cancer treatment.

The Edinburgh University team who oversaw the treatment are freezing reproductive tissue in children as young as one, with the aim to reimplant in adulthood. The procedure which is available on the NHS, was pioneered 20 years ago, as a method to restore fertility following treatment for cancer.

The new mother, who has not been named, shared her experiences:

“That the re-implanted tissue took so quickly, came as a really wonderful surprise. I’m incredibly appreciative of my oncologist’s foresight in sending me for the consultation with the fertility team.  I had one small surgical procedure before I began my second round of chemotherapy and now, 10 years on, my husband and I have been able to have a family. We never thought it would be possible and we are just astonished and overjoyed. We are extremely grateful to all the people involved in this process.”

“When you’re going through cancer treatment it can be hard to think about the future, but I do think this will offer hope to others that they could one day have a family.”

Read the full article here.