World's First Baby Has Been Born From a Cancer Survivor's Frozen, Lab-Matured Egg

At a world premiere, a woman who was spayed by cancer treatment gave birth after one of her 

immature eggs was matured, frozen and then, five years later, thawed and fertilized, 

researchers in France reported.




A study published in the Annals of Oncology magazine published on Wednesday describes how 

the baby of a 34-year-old French woman who had been treated with breast cancer chemotherapy 

was born.

Before the start of treatment, doctors removed seven immature ovules from the ovaries and 

used a technique called in vitro maturation (IVM) to allow the ovules to develop further in 

the laboratory.

To date, there have been no successful pregnancies in patients with MIV cancer and egg 

freezing.However, some babies were born as a result of IVM immediately followed by 

fertilization and transfer to the patient.

Michael Grynberg, head of the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Conservation 

at the Antoine Beclere University Hospital, near Paris, said he learned of the 29-year-old 

patient's case.

"I offered him the opportunity to freeze the ovules after IVM and also to freeze the ovarian 

tissue," he said.

The patient rejected the second option because it was too invasive only a few days after 

the cancer diagnosis.

The so-called ovarian tissue cryopreservation is an experimental method in which the outer 

layer of an ovary, which contains immature ovules, is removed from the body and frozen for 

future use.




In the case of the French patient, the ultrasound revealed that there were 17 small bags 

filled with fluid containing immature ovules in her ovaries.

But the use of hormones to stimulate the ovaries to mature the ovules would have taken too 

long and could have made their cancer worse, leaving immature ovum recovery and freezing as 

the best option.

Less invasive IVF

"The preservation technique by freezing stimulation (hormonal) works less well, but in this 

case we really had no choice," Grynberg said on the AFP phone.

After five years, the patient recovered from breast cancer, but could not conceive naturally.

Chemotherapy had left her sterile.

After age 40, approximately 40 percent of breast cancer patients go through menopause due to

their treatment. At 30, the percentage is 15-20 percent.

Six of the eggs that had been frozen five years earlier survived the defrosting process and 

five were successfully fertilized.

One of these fertilized eggs was transferred to the patient's uterus and gave birth to a 

healthy baby named Jules on July 6, 2019.




"We have shown that this technique, although it can be improved, allows women in this 

situation to have children," Grynberg said.

Experts not involved in the procedure described it as an advance.

"The successful maturation of the ovules after ovarian removal was a challenge, so this is 

a positive positive step," said Richard Anderson, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the 

MRC Center for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh. .

Freezing the eggs at that stage also means that they remain the property of the woman, 

without the complications that a couple's sperm use can fertilize to fertilize, he said.

"This progress is particularly important for cancer patients, but it is also a step towards 

easier and less invasive in vitro (IVF) fertilization," Anderson added.