Fertility preservation options for females

Abstract

Oncofertility is an interdisciplinary field in which providers of oncology and reproductive health care provide patients with options for fertility after cancer treatment. Infertility following cancer treatment occurs for various reasons including the need for removal of reproductive organs as well as the effects of chemotherapy and radiation on gametes and reproductive hormones. Unfortunately, few patients have comprehensive counseling on fertility preservation options prior to undergoing treatment (Schover et al., Cancer 86(4):697-709, 1999). This chapter explains the options for maintenance of fertility including oophoropexy/ovarian transposition, conservative surgical and medical management of gynecologic cancers, embryo cryopreservation via in vitro fertilization, oocyte cryopreservation, use of donor oocytes and donor embryos, gestational surrogacy, ovarian cortex cryopreservation and transplantation, in vitro maturation, ovarian suppression, uterine transplantation, and the potential for generation of gametes from somatic cells. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.