Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ana Cobo, Juan Antonio Garcia-Velasco, Jose Remohi, Antonio Pellicer
Summary: The oocyte vitrification technique has been widely used in the field of fertility preservation, benefiting women at risk of losing ovarian function. Age is a critical factor affecting reproductive prognosis, and elective fertility preservation patients should make decisions before the age of 35. Diseases and surgeries such as cystectomy before oocyte retrieval can impact reproductive outcomes.
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Eric Han, David B. Seifer
Summary: Oocyte cryopreservation (OC) is a process of stimulating ovarian follicles, retrieving follicular fluid, isolating and vitrifying mature oocytes. It has been increasingly used as an option for future biologic children for patients undergoing gonadotoxic therapies. Planned OC, also known as elective OC, is growing in popularity to overcome age-related fertility decline. This review discusses medically indicated and planned OC, focusing on the physiology, technique, timing, financial considerations, and outcomes.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Zachary Walker, Andrea Lanes, Elizabeth Ginsburg
Summary: This paper provides a narrative review of the utilization and outcomes of oocyte cryopreservation in medical and planned cases. The data suggests that using this technique can preserve fertility and result in live births in both patient populations. Younger patients tend to have better outcomes in terms of oocyte yield and live birth rates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AND ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
S. Brouillet, N. Ranisavljevic, C. Sonigo, E. Haquet, S. Bringer-Deutsch, V Loup-Cabaniols, S. Hamamah, M. Willems, T. Anahory
Summary: The oocyte cryopreservation strategy is not well suited for women with Turner syndrome due to their unique hormonal profile and chromosomal abnormalities, which make it difficult to collect a sufficient number of mature oocytes for fertility preservation.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Lorraine S. Kasaven, Srdjan Saso, Natalie Getreu, Helen O'Neill, Timothy Bracewell-Milnes, Fevzi Shakir, Joseph Yazbek, Meen-Yau Thum, James Nicopoullos, Jara Ben Nagi, Paul Hardiman, Cesar Diaz-Garcia, Benjamin P. Jones
Summary: Age-related fertility decline is a prevalent concern in western cultures due to the increasing age of first-time motherhood. Elective oocyte and embryo cryopreservation are established methods of fertility preservation, but the alternative option of elective ovarian cortex cryopreservation has not been considered in this context.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
(2022)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Elisa Gil-Arribas, Christophe Blockeel, Guido Pennings, Julie Nekkebroeck, Juan A. Garcia Velasco, Jose Serna, Michel De Vos
Summary: Oocyte vitrification, or egg freezing, is becoming increasingly popular as a precautionary measure for women, but it remains controversial due to concerns about cost-effectiveness and medical and ethical issues.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Laurie Henry, Julie Vervier, Astrid Boucher, Geraldine Brichant, Olivier Gaspard, Soraya Labied, Carine Munaut, Stephanie Ravet, Michelle Nisolle
Summary: Oocyte cryopreservation is an effective fertility preservation technique that can help women with endometriosis achieve pregnancy. However, it is not suitable for all patients and more socio-economic and risk-benefit data are needed to support decision-making.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Koki Yoshinaga, Tomoko Hashimoto, Yuriko Fukuoka, Noriyuki Okuyama, Koichi Kyono
Summary: This report presents the first documented cases of pregnancies and childbirths resulting from NMOC in Japan, demonstrating that NMOC is an option for individuals who are unable to conceive during their optimal reproductive years and wish to preserve their fertility.
REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
N. Fuchs Weizman, S. Baram, J. Montbriand, C. L. Librach
Summary: Planned oocyte cryopreservation is a cost-efficient method for preserving fertility, but under-utilization due to knowledge gaps and overestimation of success rates hinders its wider adoption.
BJOG-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ayse Seyhan, Oznur Dundar Akin, Sinem Ertas, Baris Ata, Kayhan Yakin, Bulent Urman
Summary: The study evaluated the expectations, experiences, and fertility awareness status of women who underwent social oocyte cryopreservation and found that many women lack a realistic understanding of reproductive aging and tend to overestimate the chances of success with frozen oocytes. However, the majority of women still expressed willingness to recommend oocyte cryopreservation to friends.
REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
A. Tsafrir, H. Holzer, T. Miron-Shatz, T. Eldar-Geva, M. Gal, I Ben-ami, N. Dekel, A. Weintruab, D. Goldberg, O. Schonberger, N. Srebnik, J. Hyman
Summary: Most women who underwent planned oocyte cryopreservation did so because they didn't want to become pregnant without a partner. While the majority of those who attempted to conceive were successful, some eventually chose to use donor spermatozoa for conception.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Marie-Madeleine Dolmans, Camille Hossay, Thu Yen Thi Nguyen, Catherine Poirot
Summary: Chemotherapy, pelvic radiotherapy, and ovarian surgery can have harmful effects on the reproductive system, leading to early depletion of the ovarian reserve and increased risk of future fertility problems. Factors such as ovarian reserve, type of treatment, dose, and patient age determine the extent of this risk.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hiromitsu Shirasawa, Yukiyo Kumazawa, Wataru Sato, Takuya Iwasawa, Kazue Togashi, Natsuki Ono, Ayaka Fujishima, Kazumasa Takahashi, Eri Maeda, Yukihiro Terada
Summary: This study surveyed the websites of 621 registered assisted reproductive technology facilities in Japan to examine the cost variation of oocyte cryopreservation (OoC) and the data provided. It was found that the non-medical group had significantly higher costs for OoC compared to the medical group, and there was a lack of information on costs and clinical outcomes on the websites.
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Marie-Madeleine Dolmans, Jacques Donnez
Summary: Approximately 10% of cancers occur in women under the age of 45, with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and bone marrow transplantation curing more than 90% of cases but potentially leading to premature ovarian insufficiency. Fertility preservation may also be necessary for benign diseases or social reasons. Oocyte vitrification and ovarian tissue cryopreservation are two main strategies for preserving fertility in female cancer patients.
BEST PRACTICE & RESEARCH CLINICAL OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Angela Q. Leung, Katherine Baker, Denis Vaughan, Jaimin S. Shah, Ann Korkidakis, David A. Ryley, Denny Sakkas, Thomas L. Toth
Summary: The research revealed that only a small percentage of patients returned to use their oocytes, with 32% of them achieving a live birth.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2021)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Vincent Couture, Stephane Delisle, Alexis Mercier, Guido Pennings
Summary: This review highlights the interdisciplinary nature of research on Advanced Paternal Age (APA), focusing on the biological, medical, social, public health, psychological, ethical, and regulatory aspects. The field of APA is still developing, with promising avenues of research identified such as including the perspective of older fathers in the research agenda.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION UPDATE
(2021)
Editorial Material
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Ethics
Guido Pennings
Summary: Postmortem sperm donation involves low sperm quality and burdensome in vitro fertilisation, leading to the acceptance of more living donors. To expand the donor pool, a better alternative would be men who have stored sperm for self-use but no longer intend to use it.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
Summary: Research shows that the primary reason for women to consider elective egg freezing is the lack of a partner, particularly for highly educated women. The reversed gender gap in education is identified as the main cause of the 'lack of partner' issue for highly educated women, suggesting the need for policy measures to address this problem.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
Summary: This article discusses the comparison between embryo donation and double donation, emphasizing the importance of considering the perspective of the recipients and presenting additional arguments to balance the two methods.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Guido Pennings
Summary: This paper argues that enucleated oocyte donation (EOD) should first be used for treating infertility caused by poor oocyte quality or poor embryonic development before being used for reducing the risk of mitochondrial disorders. The main concern for offspring, the risk of pathological mtDNA transfer, does not exist in infertility cases. Therefore, the application of EOD for treating infertility should be conducted in a clinical research setting to gather more evidence on its efficacy and safety.
JOURNAL OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
Summary: This article discusses the introduction of sperm sharing in UK clinics, which aims to increase the donor pool and provide access to IVF treatment for less affluent patients. By comparing sperm sharing with oocyte sharing, the moral acceptability of the practice is examined. It is found that sperm sharers have fewer rights compared to regular sperm donors. The article then explores alternative procedures to achieve the goals of sharing schemes, such as providing cheaper IVF protocols or reducing the cost of IVF cycles to make them more accessible for less affluent individuals.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Allan A. Pacey, Guido Pennings, Edgar Mocanu, Janne Rothmar, Anja Pinborg, Stine Willum Adrian, Corey Burke, Anne-Bine Skytte
Summary: More applicants are accepted as donors in Denmark than in the USA, and those who choose ID release are more frequently accepted than those who do not.
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Ethics
Guido Pennings
Summary: Some countries have age limits for donor offspring to access certain information after abolishing donor anonymity. In the UK and the Netherlands, there is a debate on whether to lower or abolish these age limits. This article presents arguments against lowering the age limits as a general rule, questioning the impact on the well-being of donor children, the isolation of the child from their family, and the contradiction with the practice of gamete donation.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guido Pennings
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
Summary: Many people hope that the unused and unwanted eggs frozen by women for self-use could be used to alleviate the shortage of donor eggs. However, practical and ethical issues may hinder this hope. This paper discusses the reimbursement of costs for elective egg freezers who want to donate their eggs and argues for a partial reimbursement for collection expenses.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2023)
Article
Ethics
Steven R. Piek, Guido Pennings, Veerle Provoost
Summary: This article discusses the ethical legitimacy of using age as a basis for policies and legislation in reproductive healthcare. It proposes a framework for determining exclusion criteria and emphasizes that age should not be given special status as it is just one of many predicting variables.
THEORETICAL MEDICINE AND BIOETHICS
(2023)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
Summary: In the past decade, an unregulated system of sperm donation has developed alongside formal fertility clinics and sperm banks. This paper presents a SWOT analysis of this new development. The informal system's main strength is the demedicalization of sperm donation, increasing women's reproductive autonomy. The main weakness is the potential for abuse and morally questionable behavior by donors. However, many of the reported disadvantages, such as no ability to limit offspring or genetic testing, also exist in the formal system.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2023)
Letter
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Guido Pennings
HUMAN REPRODUCTION OPEN
(2022)
Article
Ethics
Andrea Martani, Eva De Clercq, Christian De Geyter, Guido Pennings, Tenzin Wangmo, Bernice Simone Elger
Summary: The debate over whether there should be restrictions for access to Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) is ongoing. One controversial topic is the use of parental age as a criterion to limit access to ART. This article explores three conceptions of age - chronological, biological, and social-cultural - and their implications for regulating ART access. It proposes a template for defining legal age limits based on a refined understanding of these conceptions and addresses potential objections.
JOURNAL OF LAW AND THE BIOSCIENCES
(2022)