Belgian doctors have announced that an infertile woman has conceived naturally and given birth after having her frozen ovarian tissue re-implanted into her body. Ms Touirat and her daughter, Tamara, are reported as healthy and well. Doctors believe that this is the first birth of its kind. Ms Touirat had become infertile due to chemotherapy treatment. Prior to the treatment, some of her ovarian tissue was removed and frozen; one ovary was left in place. When she was found to be cancer-free, the tissue was re-implanted near the existing ovary, at the ends of her fallopian tubes. Months later she was menstruating and ovulating normally; over a year later she was pregnant.
There is a question as to whether the new implanted ovarian tissue is responsible for the ovulation or whether her original ovary was able to function normally. If the pregnancy is due to the implanted tissue, this success provides hope for many women who are faced with the risk of infertility at a young age. Chemotherapy can cause young women to go through menopause early and loose their chance of producing children. This technique provides another alternative that will allow such women to pursue motherhood once cancer treatment is finished. However, there is a question as to whether healthy women will attempt to use this technique to ‘beat’ menopause and have children at a later age; whether this will raise great enough concern to consider putting rules in place to regulate use is unclear. In addition, new European regulations requiring standards for the storage of tissue in tissue banks might limit the number of clinics able to meet the new standards and thus provide this service to women. Fertility doctors are awaiting further details about this success to judge its impact on their work.