How can women preserve fertility before cancer treatment?

Women who are about to undergo cancer treatment have various options when it comes to fertility preservation. For example:

• Embryo cryopreservation. This procedure involves harvesting eggs, fertilizing them and freezing them so they can be implanted at a later date. Research shows that embryos can survive the freezing and thawing process up to 90% of the time.
• Egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation). In this procedure, you'll have your unfertilized eggs harvested and frozen. Human eggs don't survive freezing as well as human embryos.
• Radiation shielding. In this procedure, small lead shields are placed over the ovaries to reduce the amount of radiation exposure they receive.
• Ovarian transposition (oophoropexy). During this procedure, the ovaries are surgically repositioned in the pelvis so they're out of the radiation field when radiation is delivered to the pelvic area. However, because of scatter radiation, ovaries aren't always protected. After treatment, you might need to have your ovaries repositioned again to conceive.
• Surgical removal of the cervix. To treat early-stage cervical cancer, a large cone-shaped section of the cervix, including the cancerous area, is removed (cervical conization). The remainder of the cervix and the uterus are preserved. Alternatively, a surgeon can partially or completely remove the cervix and the connective tissues next to the uterus and cervix (radical trachelectomy).