The first baby conceived through natural pregnancy after the mother underwent frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation in China is in good health after birth.
The mother surnamed Li had a part of her ovarian tissue frozen before undergoing a bone marrow transplantation in 2016, said her doctor Ruan Xiangyan, director of the department of endocrinology at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.
The then 29-year-old was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome in 2016, with bone marrow transplantation being the only cure. However, such treatment procedures seriously damage the ovarian function and nearly 100 percent of such cases result in premature ovarian failure.
Li underwent the frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation in 2018 to regain fertility. She has recently given birth to a baby girl, weighing 3,345 grams and 49 cm in height. The baby was in good health upon birth.
"The core technology of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue transplantation is cryopreservation," said Ruan.
As malignant diseases require bone marrow transplantation or radiotherapy and chemotherapy, millions of young women and children face the risk of iatrogenic premature ovarian failure every year.
"In emergency situations, cryopreservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue are the only way to protect and preserve fertility in such patients who are in their childbearing age," she said.
A patient's fertility and normal ovarian endocrine function can be prolonged by 10, 20, or even 30 years through the cryopreservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue, Ruan added.
