Freezing ovary tissue may be option for some women, doctors say

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- You may have heard about women freezing their eggs to help them conceive children later in life, but there's another fertility-preserving procedure that may be easier on women and less expensive. The technique involves freezing part of a woman's ovaries.

To the outsider, little Grant is a typical 4-year-old: curious, energetic and adorable. But to his mom, Amy Tucker, he's a miracle. Grant was among the first wave of babies in the world conceived through the use of frozen ovary tissue.

"He's our little miracle. He always will be," said Tucker.

Freezing young ovary tissue and re-implanting it later is a relatively new concept, enabling women to freeze up to hundreds of thousands of eggs.

When Tucker was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 19 and faced sterility, Dr. Sherman Silber of the Infertility Center of st. Louis recommended the revolutionary procedure.

"I told her I really didn't think this had much likelihood of working. It was very experimental. But it was all that we could do for her," said Silber.

Twelve years later, Tucker returned to Silber to have her frozen ovary tissue re-implanted.

Soon after, her ovary began functioning normally. In a matter of months, Grant was conceived the old-fashioned way.

Silber says ovary-freezing has worked successfully for three out of four patients he's tried it on. He insists it is not only less painful than egg-freezing, it's also less expensive.

The procedure costs around $10,000 while egg-freezing can cost up to $25,000.

For Tucker, deciding to freeze her ovary tissue is a decision that's proved priceless.

Worldwide, only about 30 births have resulted from this still-experimental technique. Ovarian tissue freezing is available in Southern California. Many centers may mention the technique on their websites, but few have actually done it.