Girls
Retrieval of ovarian tissues: This recent technique is aimed at preserving the fertility of the ovarian function. It consists in retrieving fragments of the ovarian cortex before chemotherapy or radiation therapy starts and freezing them in the hope that the tissue will one day, with scientific advances and after remission, be reimplanted or produce mature eggs in vitro.
Boys
There are many ways to preserve fertility in boys, depending on the individual’s production of sperm cells:
- Sperm cells are retrieved by masturbation, as with an adult.
- Under anaesthesia, a doctor stimulates ejaculation to retrieve the semen.
- If the boy does not yet produce sperm, we perform a biopsy of the testicles, which allows us to preserve young cells, in the hope that one day science will have a way to transplant them after remission and restart sperm production.