Fertility Preservation Options

Fertility can be affected by age, medical conditions, and treatments. If your future fertility may be at risk, there are steps you can take to press the pause button. Fertility preservation is the process of saving healthy eggs, sperm, or embryos so that they can be used at a future date.

Reasons to Consider Fertility Preservation

Sometimes having a baby right now just isn’t an option but future changes may make a pregnancy difficult later on. Fertility preservation may be considered if:

• There is a medical condition that may affect future fertility, such as a genetic disease, uterine fibroids, or endometriosis
• Medical treatment is needed that may impact fertility, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy
• Want to delay having children for personal reasons

Protecting Reproductive Organs

Certain steps may be available to protect a person’s reproductive organs prior to harmful treatments, such as radiation therapy. Both men and women can preserve their fertility through gonadal shielding. This method protects the testicles or ovaries from radiation with a lead shield during any exposure to treatments that may harm fertility.

Another procedure, called ovarian transposition, is available to women. It is a minor surgery that moves the ovaries away from an area that will receive treatment. The fallopian tubes may also be moved during the procedure.

Male Fertility Preservation

If protection isn’t possible, men can preserve their fertility through a process called sperm cryopreservation, also known as sperm banking. The man provides a sperm sample which is frozen and stored for future use. This method could be used for males as young as their teens as long as they’ve reached puberty.

Female Fertility Preservation

Women have the option to freeze and store unfertilized egg samples using a process called oocyte cryopreservation. This method can also be used for teen girls who have reached puberty.

Embryo Cryopreservation

In addition to storing frozen eggs, embryos can also be frozen and stored for future use using a process called embryo cryopreservation. In this process, eggs are removed from a woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm from a partner or a donor. The embryo is then implanted in a women. The fertilization process is known as in vitro fertilization.

Success Factors

Fertility preservation is most effective when healthy eggs or sperm are frozen. It should be done at as early an age as possible and before having treatments that harm fertility. Damage to sperm and eggs is higher later in a person’s reproductive years and after treatment has been started. Keep in mind that eggs don’t survive cryopreservation as well as embryos. This is because they are a single cell a more likely to become damaged during the process.

The success of implanting a previously frozen embryo depends on many factors, such as maternal age, overall health, and the number of embryos transferred.

There are many fertility preservation options available. Talk to your healthcare team before undergoing major treatments if fertility is a concern. The treatment plan may be able to be adjusted to preserve fertility. If treatment cannot be altered or you wish to delay pregnancy to a later age, talk to your doctor about whether any of these options are right for you or your partner.

Revision Information

• Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review BoardMichael Woods, MD, FAAP
• Review Date: 01/2018
• Update Date: 03/14/2019