Lymphoma and Female Fertility

Embryo freezing is a medically accepted way to preserve the possibility of fertility. First, the ovaries are stimulated to mature multiple eggs. Doctors remove the mature eggs and fertilize them in the lab with sperm from a partner or donor to create embryos. The fertilization process is called in vitro fertilization (IVF). Embryos are then frozen for future use. The steps required to freeze embryos take between two and six weeks.

Egg freezing is an option for women who may not have a male partner or who are not ready to choose a sperm donor. There is a new research that indicates it may have potential for cancer patients.

“Everything we’ve heard before about egg freezing needs to be put away,” said Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director of ReproCure and the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine. “Up until now, existing technology only offered a 1%-to-4% baby rate per frozen egg….a false promise of success,” noted Dr. Sher. “But ECT and vitrification, dual processes that allow us to select only chromosomally normal eggs for safe cryobanking are paradigm shifters. They give women a realistic fertility preservation alternative they can count on.”