Medical freezing: freezing egg cells or sperm before germ cell-damaging therapy to preserve fertility
A cancer diagnosis is a particular challenge in many respects – also with regard to a possible desire to have a child in the future.
The medical cryopreservation of germ cells, the freezing of egg cells in women or sperm in men, gives you the chance to realise your desire to have a child after a stressful cancer treatment. As time is usually an important factor in cancer treatment, we offer appointments within three days at Fleetinsel Fertility Clinic in the case of medical freezing.
Ovarian function and germ cell-damaging therapy
A germ cell-damaging therapy such as chemotherapy not only damages cancer cells, but can also affect the ovaries. The extent of this damage depends primarily on the type of therapy and is also influenced by the individual’s ovarian reserve. Women with a large ovarian reserve generally tolerate germ cell-damaging therapy better than those with a low reserve. This therapy accelerates the onset of the menopause, which closes the window of opportunity for pregnancy prematurely. In the case of severe damage to the ovaries, the menopause can even begin during the therapy, although the risk depends on various factors. It therefore makes sense to take preventive measures before starting a germ cell-damaging therapy, with the most effective means of preserving fertility being egg cell freezing.
Freezing egg cells to preserve fertility
In order to freeze egg cells before germ cell-damaging therapy, the ovaries are firstly stimulated by administering hormones over a period of around 10 to 14 days to allow as many follicles as possible to mature. This requires at least two weeks before the germ cell-damaging therapy is started. As soon as sufficient follicles have matured, a short procedure known as egg retrieval is performed. The eggs retrieved during this procedure are then frozen in our IVF laboratory. At Fleetinsel Fertility Clinic, we use vitrification, a particularly gentle method of cryopreservation. The egg cells are stored in liquid nitrogen and can be fertilised at a later date using In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) and transferred into the uterus. The more egg cells have been frozen, the higher the probability of going on to have a child using this procedure.
The costs of freezing egg cells prior to germ cell-damaging therapy and the storage costs are fully covered by health insurance. The document for cost coverage is available here: link to download the form.
The questionnaire marked as a link for download should also be completed and brought to your first appointment.
Testicular function and germ cell-damaging therapies
In men, too, a germ cell-damaging therapy, such as chemotherapy, destroys not only cancer cells but also the testicles. The extent of this damage depends primarily on the type of therapy and is also influenced by individual factors. Men with very good sperm quality generally tolerate germ cell-damaging therapy better than those with sperm quality that may have already been impaired prior to the therapy.