Dec. 15, 2016 — A woman had a baby boy after her fertility was restored with ovarian tissue that was removed and frozen when she was a child.
It’s believed that 24-year-old Moaza Al Matrooshi is the first in the world to have a child after having ovary tissue frozen before puberty, BBC News reported.
She is from Dubai. The baby was delivered at a hospital in London, England.
Moaza was born with beta thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder that is fatal if not treated. At age 9, she underwent chemotherapy, which damages the ovaries, before receiving a bone marrow transplant from her brother, BBC News reported.
Before the chemotherapy, doctors removed her right ovary and froze tissue from it.
Last year, surgeons transplanted five slices of the ovarian tissue back into Moaza — four on her damaged left ovary and one on to the side of her uterus. After the transplant, her hormone levels rose, she began ovulating, and her fertility was restored, BBC News reported.
To boost their chances of having a child, Moaza and her husband underwent IVF treatment. Eight eggs were collected, three embryos were produced, and two of them were implanted earlier this year.
This successful outcome offers hope to other women whose fertility is at risk due to treatments for cancer, blood or immune disorders, according to Sara Matthews, a consultant in gynecology and fertility who conducted Moaza’s fertility treatment.
“This is a huge step forward. We know that ovarian tissue transplantation works for older women, but we’ve never known if we could take tissue from a child, freeze it and make it work again,” Matthews told BBC News.
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