In a world-first, a woman rendered infertile by cancer treatment gave birth after one of her immature eggs was matured, frozen, and then – five years later – thawed and fertilised, researchers in France reported. Up to now, there have been no successful pregnancies in cancer patients with eggs that have undergone IVM and freezing. After the age of 40, some 40 percent of breast cancer patients transition into menopause because of their treatment. Freezing eggs at that stage also means that they remain the woman’s property, without the complications that using a partner’s sperm to fertilise can engender, he noted. “This advance is particularly important for cancer patients, but it’s also a step towards easier and less invasive in vitro fertilisation (IVF),” Anderson added.

Source: Punch February 19, 2020 19:30 UTC