Maintaining your ability to have a successful pregnancy
For patients facing medical conditions or other life events that may impact their future fertility, we offer a full range of fertility preservation options to help you optimize your ability to have a biological child in the future.
We help men and women whose future fertility may be at risk due to:
Cancer and its treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgery
Occupational exposure to radiation, hazardous chemicals or other agents
Military service or deployment
Age, for women who are not ready to have children yet
A family history of premature menopause · Travel to areas that place them at risk of Zika infection
Diminished ovarian reserve (decreasing number and quality of eggs)
In this process, medications are given to induce the woman’s ovaries to mature multiple eggs. The eggs are then retrieved and frozen until a woman decides to use them. The eggs can be thawed later, combined with sperm in the lab using IVF, and the resulting embryos are transferred to the woman’s uterus. Because the eggs are frozen before being fertilized, no sperm is needed. Egg freezing may be a good option for women who:
Have religious or ethical objections to embryo freezing
Want to increase the chances of having a biological child later in life
Embryo freezing (cryopreservation)
Like egg freezing, medications are used to stimulate the woman’s ovaries to mature a group of eggs. In this process, the eggs are retrieved and combined with sperm in the lab for fertilization. The resulting embryos are then frozen for future use, at which time they can be thawed and transferred to the woman’s uterus. Embryo freezing may be a good option for:
Couples in committed relationships
Individuals who need genetic testing
Those who want to increase the chances of having a biological child later in life
Ovarian tissue freezing
This experimental procedure, also known as ovarian tissue banking, is typically used in cases where cancer treatment cannot be delayed the 2 to 3 weeks required to perform IVF, or in young girls who have not gone through puberty yet.
During this laparoscopic procedure, an ovary or a piece of the ovary containing eggs is surgically removed, cut into thin strips, and frozen for future use. If a woman has premature menopause or ovarian failure, the tissue can be thawed and re-implanted in the woman’s body, increasing the chance for natural conception of pregnancy through IVF. The procedure can be performed quickly, avoiding a delay in treating the cancer.
Ovarian suppression
This experimental treatment uses medications to temporarily stop the ovaries from functioning during cancer treatment, potentially protecting eggs from the harmful effects of chemotherapy.
Sperm banking
Also known as sperm freezing or cryopreservation, sperm banking offers men the possibility of fathering a child in the future. Specimens are collected through masturbation, frozen and stored for future use. The sperm can be thawed and used for intrauterine insemination (IUI, or artificial insemination) or IVF. Sperm banking is available through our partnership with Baylor College of Medicine’s Scott Department of Urology, home to one of the few specialized laboratories devoted exclusively to male reproductive health testing.