Key Points:

• What is Fertility Preservation? 
• Benefits of FP Process
• Who can Benefit from FP?
• Fertility Preservation: Current Options
• Which FP option should I choose?

What is Fertility Preservation? 

Fertility Preservation is the process of saving or protecting eggs, sperm, or reproductive tissue so that a person can use them to have biological children in the future. It is a way to preserve fertility for a woman who is having difficulty conceiving, or has undergone cancer treatment that has impaired her ability to conceive. 

It can also be used to preserve fertility in men whose sperm production has been affected by chemotherapy or radiation.

Benefits of Fertility Preservation:

The process of fertility preservation is a very important step to take in order to preserve the genetic line of your family. There are many benefits of this process, which include:

1. Preserving the genetic lineage of your family for future generations
2. It helps in treating infertility problems
3. It can help in avoiding genetic diseases and disorders
4. It can help in avoiding the risk of passing on a genetic disease to your children
5. It can help in preventing miscarriages

Who can Benefit from FP?

People having certain diseases, disorders, and life events that affect fertility may benefit from fertility preservation. These include people who:

• Exposed to toxic chemicals in the workplace or during military duty
• Have endometriosis
• Have uterine fibroids
• Are about to be treated for cancer
• Are about to be treated for an autoimmune disease, such as lupus
• Have a genetic disease that affects future fertility
• Delay having children

Fertility Preservation: Current Options

The benefits of fertility preservation include the chance to have a child in the future. 

There are several options for men to preserve their fertility. They include 

• Sperm banking: is the storage of sperm from a man who has produced a large quantity of sperm. It allows a man to have children with a partner in the future. Sperm banking is a good option for men who are at a risk of low sperm count due to certain medical conditions or because they have undergone radiation treatment. 

• Cryopreservation: is the process of freezing human sperm for later use. Testicular tissue freezing is one of the best ways to preserve fertility in males who have testicular cancer. The freezing of testicular tissue can preserve sperm count and quality, and can also be used to preserve fertility in men.

• Vasectomy reversal: is the surgical procedure that reverses a vasectomy performed on a man.

Fertility-preserving options for females include:

• Embryo cryopreservation: OR Embryo freezing is a process of freezing an embryo in liquid nitrogen and storing it at -196°C, to keep it frozen until the patient decides to use it. The process can be carried out using the "Maternal-Fetal Medicine" (MFM) procedure. Embryo cryopreservation can be used to preserve the fertility of women who have experienced pregnancy loss.

• Egg freezing OR Oocyte cryopreservation: involves removing eggs from the ovaries, fertilizing them with her partner's sperm, and then storing them in a special tank at a fertility clinic. and stored for future use. The eggs can be frozen using a number of methods, including egg freezing with cryopreservation or vitrification.

This option is similar to embryo cryopreservation, except that unfertilized eggs are frozen and stored.

• Ovarian Cortex Transplantation: is a treatment option for women with cancer of the ovaries. OCT is a relatively new treatment that has been shown to improve survival in women with advanced ovarian cancer. 

OCT is a procedure where the ovaries are surgically repositioned in the pelvis so they're out of the radiation field when radiation is delivered to the pelvic area. It is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure.

Which Fertility Preservation option should I choose?

If you are trying to preserve your fertility, then you need to decide what type of treatment you will use. You should be aware of the risks and benefits of each option.

For example, Egg freezing has many potential risks, including an increased risk of cancer, and an increased risk of losing the eggs due to chromosomal abnormalities. In addition, egg freezing may not preserve fertility in all women.

The choice of which option to use will depend on a number of factors, including the age of the patient, the number of children desired, Personal, cultural, or religious beliefs and the medical condition that is causing infertility.

So, first make an appointment with a fertility expert who can review your situation, discuss your options and work with you to make the best decision.