Frozen Ovaries

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting a first -- a Belgian baby has been birthed by a 32-year-old mother that had been rendered sterile by chemotherapy treatments for cancer. The mother had pieces of her ovaries frozen seven years ago -- and it was transplanted back into her after the chemotherapy treatments. The birth is the first from frozen ovarian tissue -- although there are over 100 cases worldwide of babies being produced from eggs that were frozen. This birth is good news for the many women who will undergo chemotherapy for cancer in the future = they may have the opportunity to save part of their ovaries for the future -- it also raises the possibility of preserving healthy ovaries in order to have babies later in life -- as chemotherapy that destroys ovaries renders women menopausal.