Preservation and Postponement of Female Fertility

In the last several decades, both the growing number of reproductive age cancer survivors, and the trend of women from western countries delaying child-bearing to a later age have been markedly increasing. The confluence of these two epidemiologic trends has led to the need for better and more widely available strategies for fertility preservation. In this paper, we will first review both the established and experimental methodologies which can be utilized for either the preservation or postponement of female fertility. These options currently include embryo and oocyte cryopreservation, cortical and whole ovary cryopreservation, ovarian transplantation, ovarian transposition, and gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist protection. As laboratory and surgical techniques for oocyte and ovary cryopreservation continue to improve, modalities now considered experimental will become part of routine practice for reproductive medicine specialists.