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Latest Surrogacy News
Ovary transplant
breakthrough
13 October, 2003
itv.com
Millions of women with infertility
problems could be given fresh hope after the first
successful ovary transplant in a monkey was carried out.
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"This procedure suggests
that ovarian tissue banking in humans may be feasible" -
Dr David Lee |
Researchers from the US implanted ovarian tissue into an
infertile rhesus monkey and used one of the resulting eggs
to produce a healthy test-tube baby.
If
the technology can be adapted for humans, it could provide
an answer for young women who become infertile after cancer
treatment.
And scientists from the Oregon National Primate Research
centre said transplants could also be used to reverse the
menopause and allow women to have babies into their 50s and
60s.
The scientists removed the ovaries from seven rhesus macaque
monkeys, and re-implanted slices of the tissue into three
sites - the kidney, the arm and the abdomen.
All the monkeys began producing female hormones, and in four
cases the tissue secreted eggs.
Two of these were fertilised using IVF techniques, and a
surrogate mother gave birth to a healthy female last year.
Dr
David Lee, who led the research, said it was the first time
transplanted tissue had been used to create a healthy
infant.
"This procedure has utility for serving the reproductive
potential of cancer survivors and treating menopause, and
suggests that ovarian tissue banking in humans may be
feasible."
Simon Davies, of the Teenage Cancer Trust, said young women
diagnosed with ovarian cancer currently had to make an
"unbearable" choice between early treatment and potential
infertility.
"They have to decide whether to delay their treatment for
their menstrual cycle to come round so they can freeze the
eggs," he said.
"That can be damaging, but if they don't it's possible they
could become infertile. It's a heavy choice for a 15- or
16-year-old girl to make."
If
the new technology worked slivers of their ovaries could be
frozen, and then re-implanted on their bodies later to
produce eggs.
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