Curtain Raiser 25 – Fertility Preservation & Art
Fertility preservation and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) play a vital role in safeguarding fertility for individuals undergoing medical treatments or facing other fertility-threatening circumstances.
In this video, we explore various fertility preservation techniques, including oocyte freezing, ovarian transplants, and sperm freezing, to help you make informed decisions about preserving your fertility.
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Introduction to Fertility Preservation & ART
Oocyte Freezing: A promising option for Women
• The process of oocyte freezing
- Ovarian stimulation
- Egg retrieval procedure
- Denuding and assessment
- Cryoprotectant addition
- Vitrification technique
- Long-term storage
• Ideal candidates for oocyte freezing
- Cancer patients pre-treatment
- Delaying childbearing
- Diminished ovarian reserve
- Family history of early menopause
- Ethical concerns with embryos
- Cancer and Fertility Preservation
• The impact of cancer treatments on fertility
- Chemotherapy: potential damage to eggs or sperm, may cause premature menopause
- Radiation: potential harm to reproductive organs, may affect hormone production
- Surgery: removal of reproductive organs, may impact fertility directly
• Fertility preservation options for cancer patients
- Oocyte freezing: preserving a woman’s eggs before treatment
- Sperm freezing: preserving a man’s sperm before treatment
- Embryo freezing: creating and preserving embryos for future use
- Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC): preserving ovarian tissue containing immature
- Ovary transposition: surgically moving the ovaries away from the radiation field
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists: medication to temporarily suppress ovarian function during treatment
Breast Cancer and Fertility Preservation
• Addressing fertility concerns in breast cancer patients
- Early fertility consultation
- Assess the patient’s fertility
- Evaluate treatment impact
- Personalized preservation plan
• Fertility preservation methods for breast cancer patients
- Embryo freezing
- Egg freezing
- Ovarian tissue cryopreservation
- Ovary transposition
- GnRH agonist therapy
Ovarian Transplant and Ovary Transposition
• How these procedures work
- Ovarian transplant: Cryopreserved tissue reimplanted
- Ovary transposition: Ovaries repositioned surgically
• Benefits and potential risks
- Fertility restoration
- Natural hormone production
- Reduces premature menopause
- Surgical complications possible
- Transplant rejection risk
Sperm Freezing: Preserving male fertility
• The sperm-freezing process
- Semen collection
- Semen analysis
- Cryoprotectant addition
- Controlled-rate freezing
- Long-term storage
• Factors affecting sperm viability post-thaw
- Pre-freeze sperm quality
- Cryoprotectant type
- Freezing/thawing protocols
- Storage duration
- Individual variability
Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation (OTC)
• The role of OTC in fertility preservation
- Protects fertility by freezing ovarian tissue before medical treatments that may cause infertility.
- Important for prepubertal girls and young women who cannot undergo other fertility preservation
- OTC enables women to postpone childbearing by preserving their fertility potential.
- Ovarian tissue can be transplanted back after medical treatments to restore fertility.
- OTC can be used as a source of natural hormones for premature ovarian failure
• Advancements in OTC techniques
- Vitrification
- Vitro maturation
- Robotic-assisted transplantation
- Tissue engineering
- Biomaterial