Get All Access for $5/mo

First Baby Born After Restoration Of Frozen Ovarian Tissue A woman has given birth to a baby boy after doctors restored her fertility using frozen ovary tissue preserved when she was still a child.

By Pamella de Leon

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock

Giving hope to young cancer victims and survivors, a woman has given birth to a baby boy after doctors restored her fertility using frozen ovary tissue preserved when she was still a child. how is this possible? The woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a child, prompting a move from the Republic of Congo to Belgium to seek treatment. Doctors proposed a bone marrow transplant, and she then needed chemotherapy so that her body wouldn't reject the foreign tissue (BBC). Since chemotherapy can impede ovarian function, her right ovary and tissue fragments were surgically removed at the age of 14.

The patient had not yet began menstruating, so doctors decided to freeze (or "cryopreserve') her ovarian tissue to hopefully revive her fertility later on- which it did, according to a study published in Human Reproduction. When she wanted to have a child, doctors grafted ovarian fragments onto her remaining ovary and later on, she became pregnant naturally at the age of 27. The procedure's success could help other survivors who have undergone the process of tissue cryopreservation, thereby preserving their fertility.

Pamella de Leon

Entrepreneur Staff

Columnist, Entrepreneur Middle East

Pamella de Leon is the Startup Section Editor at Entrepreneur Middle East. She is keen on the MENA region’s entrepreneurship potential, with a specific interest to support enterprises and individuals creating an impact.

Business News

Want to Start a Business? Skip the MBA, Says Bestselling Author

Entrepreneur Josh Kaufman says that the average person with an idea can go from working a job to earning $10,000 a month running their own business — no MBA required.

Starting a Business

They Showed Up to Apple With a Product They Built in Their Dorm Room. Now These Entrepreneurs Are on the Way to Changing the Way Fans Watch Sports.

How Rahat Kulshreshtha and Gaurav Mehta launched Quidich Innovation Labs, technology that is literally changing the game of sports viewership.

Growth Strategies

Saudi Unicorns: KSA-Based Unifonic Is Offering A One-Stop-Solution For Businesses To Digitally Communicate With Diverse Customer Bases

Targeting both major enterprises as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Unifonic caters to a wide range of industries, including retail, healthcare, e-commerce, and banking, among many others.

Technology

How Insurtech Startups Are Reshaping The Insurance Industry in 2017

Just as technology has impacted finance, it now looks set to have similar influence on the insurance market. Welcome to insurtech.

Technology

Bitcoin Mining: Guarding The Blockchain For The True Digital Gold

The GCC offers access to capital and a favorable business environment, which are highly positive for bitcoin mining companies, creating promising opportunities for further development of the sector.

Business News

How Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Transformed a Graphics Card Company Into an AI Giant: 'One of the Most Remarkable Business Pivots in History'

Here's how Nvidia pivoted its business to explore an emerging technology a decade in advance.