Belgian Whose Ovary Tissue Was Frozen At 13 Has Baby — Case Gives Hope To Cancer Patients

It’s a harsh reality that surviving cancer often results in permanent infertility from chemotherapy, especially for young patients. But a Belgian woman has given these survivors hope. Using frozen ovary tissue taken when she was 13, she was able to give birth naturally to a healthy baby boy late last year.

This case is remarkable because it was frozen before she menstruated. At least 35 adult women have had success with the procedure, but never before has a transplant from a child produced a pregnancy, Newsweek reported.

It’s worth noting, however, that this patient had already started showing signs of puberty for a few years, meaning further studies are needed in pre-pubescent children. Still, it’s a starting point for more investigation, researchers said.

“This is an important breakthrough in the field because children are the patients who are most likely to benefit from the procedure in the future. When they are diagnosed with diseases that require treatment that can destroy ovarian function, freezing ovarian tissue is the only available option for preserving their fertility.”

The anonymous woman, who is 27, had her tissue frozen when she underwent chemotherapy to prepare for a bone marrow transplant, donated by her brother. The girl, who emigrated from the Congo to Belgium when she was 11, didn’t have cancer, but severe sickle cell anemia. This was her only option, but the chemo spelled infertility, ABC News reported.

Doctors removed her right ovary and some tissue and had it frozen, the Washington Post reported. They weren’t entirely sure it would even produce eggs down the line. At 15, her left ovary failed, BBC added, and she had to start hormone treatment to menstruate.

At 25, she was ready to have a family, and doctors had to put their frozen ovary experiment to work. They took her off hormone therapy, thawed some of the preserved tissue, grafted it onto her failed ovary and at 11 spots on her stomach. Five months later, she had periods on her own, and started producing maturing eggs.

Since it was her only chance to have a child, she was very stressed, Dr. Isabelle Demeestere — who authored a report on the case — told the BBC.

Two years later, she conceived. In November, she brought a baby boy into the world.

“She is of course very happy and is enjoying her new life.”

What’s even more encouraging is the fact that she has some left over. Though her ovaries still function, if they fail, she can have another transplant and conceive again.

Because the procedure is risky and invasive, doctors caution that the treatment is really only suitable for people who have a high risk of infertility. Survivors of chemo for lymphoma, leukemia, and sarcoma may be the best candidates.

[Photo Courtesy Christopher Furlong / Getty Images]