Received May 22, 2009
Accepted July 27, 2009

One of the major problems against reproductive medicine is the incapacity of oocyte preservation in patients submitted to chemotherapies, radiotherapies and mutilating surgeries. In these cases, ovary preservation could restore hormonal e fertility capacity. In this article, we describe the main causes of ovarian failure and the alternatives to preserve ovarian function, especially the advances in ovarian cryopreservation.