Ovarian tissue cryopreservation has its primary goal in fertility preservation for women diagnosed with a malignancy and who may be rendered infertile because of the potential gonadotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy involved in treating their disease. Unlike the standard and endorsed methods of fertility preservation like mature oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, ovarian tissue freezing not only conserves the reproductive capacity of the woman but additionally, maintains the steroidogenic competence of the ovary due to the fact that the frozen cortex contains numerous ovarian follicles – the functional unit of the ovary. Not every follicle is fated to aid procreation. In fact more than 99% are destined to end up in atresia, which may be viewed as an enormous waste of inherent resources. In light of this, there have been propositions to expand the scope of ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation beyond its traditional purpose of fertility preservation for medical indications. Some of these ideas include utilizing cryopreserved ovarian tissue for induction of puberty, delaying the menopause and fertility preservation for social motives. Needless to say, these novel ideas will evoke questions, controversy and a plethora of criticism about the safety, superiority, cost-effectiveness, implications and necessity of these different utilities. In this article, we aim to explore some of the issues that shroud these new indications and discuss the advantages for and diatribe against these evolving suggestions.
Session 30: Fertility preservation for medical and non-medical indications