| Table 4. Comparison of fertility preservation options for women and men. |
| Preservation Method |
Target Population |
Procedure Overview |
Advantages |
Limitations |
Status |
Reference |
| Oocyte Freezing |
Adult Women |
Ovarian stimulation with hormones, oocyte retrieval
via minor surgery, freezing unfertilized oocytes |
Well-established, high success with IVF, widely
available |
Requires 2-3 weeks, costly, not feasible if treatment
is urgent |
Established |
Teo et al.
(2022)
|
| Embryo Freezing |
Adult Women |
Ovarian stimulation, oocyte retrieval, fertilization
with sperm (partner or donor), freezing embryos |
High success rate with IVF, suitable for couples,
long storage viability |
Requires a partner or donor sperm, time-intensive,
ethical concerns for some |
Established |
Teo et al.
(2022)
|
| Ovarian Tissue Freezing |
Prepubescent Girls, Adult Women (if urgent) |
Surgical removal of ovarian tissue containing
immature oocytes, freezing, future reimplantation |
No hormonal stimulation needed, option for young
girls, rapid procedure |
Experimental, limited availability, risk of
reintroducing cancer cells |
Experimental |
Jensen et al.
(2022)
|
| Ovarian Suppression |
Adult Women |
Use of GnRH agonists to temporarily suppress ovarian
function during chemotherapy |
Non-invasive, may reduce ovarian damage, adjunct to
other methods |
Uncertain efficacy, still under research, not a
standalone solution |
Experimental |
Blumenfeld (2019)
|
| Sperm Banking |
Adult Men |
Collection of semen samples via masturbation,
freezing for future use in ART (e.g., IVF, ICSI) |
Simple, cost-effective, high success rate, widely
available |
Requires viable sperm pre-treatment, not an option
for azoospermic men |
Established |
Grin et al.
(2021)
|
| Testicular Tissue Freezing |
Prepubescent Boys, Adult Men (if no sperm) |
Surgical removal of testicular tissue with
spermatogonia, freezing for future use |
Only option for prepubescent boys, potential for
future sperm generation |
Experimental, requires future tech advances, limited
clinical use |
Experimental |
Rives-Feraille et al. (2022) |