A GP guide to fertility preservation
It is essential that young people are informed about potential fertility impacts of cancer treatment and their options for fertility preservation discussed
Need to know:
- All children, adolescents and young adults who require treatment that could compromise future fertility must be informed of the risk and options available to preserve fertility before treatment begins.
- Established fertility-preservation options for females include egg freezing, embryo freezing, ovarian-tissue preservation and protection of the ovaries. Semen storage is the established fertility preservation option for males.
- Experimental options are in-vitro maturation of oocytes or ovarian tissue for young girls and cryopreservation of testicular tissue for young boys.
- Egg freezing can usually be completed within 14 days, while tissue freezing can be done almost immediately.
- Ovarian- and testicular-tissue cryopreservation require scientific expertise, which is only available in a few centres.
- There is a new national tissue transport service, ensuring that young cancer patients anywhere in