Unfrozen
A healthy baby was born for the first time from an immature egg frozen for five years
Maria Azarova, Naked Science
Scientists from the Antoine Beckler University Hospital in France said that a healthy baby was born for the first time, who was conceived using a new technology for cryopreservation of eggs. According to a study published in the journal Annals of Oncology, the baby's mother was a 34-year-old woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago.
When the disease was only discovered and it became obvious that she would have to undergo chemotherapy, the woman turned to doctors with a question about maintaining fertility. Ultrasound showed that there were 17 small fluid-filled sacs with immature eggs in the French woman's ovaries. At the same time, taking hormones to stimulate the ovaries to mature would take too long, in addition, it could accelerate the growth of the tumor.
Michael Greenberg, head of the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Fertility at Antoine Beckler University Hospital, said: "I suggested that she freeze the egg after the ovarian maturation procedure in vitro or freeze the ovarian tissue (a method in which the outer layer of the ovary containing immature cells is extracted and frozen - ed.). She rejected the second option, which was considered too invasive immediately after the cancer diagnosis."
Then the doctors decided that the only possible way out was to take seven immature eggs from the patient, carry out the maturation procedure in vitro and freeze them. In addition, the eggs were vitrified (the process of solidification at low temperatures without the formation of ice crystals) and left for storage.
Five years later, the woman recovered and returned to the clinic, as after a course of chemotherapy she became infertile and could no longer get pregnant naturally. The doctors thawed the eggs: six of them survived this procedure, five were fertilized, but only one egg developed into a healthy embryo – it was transplanted into the uterus. And nine months later, in July 2019, the Frenchwoman gave birth to a boy, who was named Gilles.
According to scientists, this case was a breakthrough in the field of fertility preservation, especially for cancer patients. Previously, there was not a single case that a patient who underwent chemotherapy had a child born from an egg that had matured in vitro and frozen for several years, the doctors stressed.
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