Live birth after the transfer of human embryos developed from cryopreserved oocytes harvested before cancer treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To document the first successful fertility preservation with freezing mature oocytes for a cancer patient.
DESIGN: Case report.
SETTING: Private IVF center. PATIENT(S): A woman with Hodgkin's disease and her gestational carrier. INTERVENTION(S): Metaphase II oocytes cryopreserved before cancer treatments were thawed and fertilized for transfer to a gestational carrier. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Post-thaw survival and pregnancy. RESULT(S): Ten of the 12 metaphase II oocytes survived the thawing process. Nine oocytes were fertilized after microinjection with her husband's sperm. All fertilized oocytes developed into good quality embryos and were transferred to a gestational carrier in three cycles. A biochemical pregnancy was achieved after the second transfer. A singleton pregnancy was achieved after the last transfer of three embryos, resulting in the birth of a healthy male. CONCLUSION(S): Our findings suggest that oocyte cryopreservation should be considered as a preferred strategy for the cancer patient who has time to cryopreserve oocytes before cancer treatment.