1 Recommendations

Guidance

1.1 Removal, preservation and reimplantation of ovarian tissue for restoring fertility after gonadotoxic treatment may be used if standard arrangements are in place for clinical governance, consent and audit. Find out what standard arrangements mean on the NICE interventional procedures guidance page.

1.2 Healthcare organisations should:

Ensure systems are in place that support clinicians to collect and report data on outcomes and safety for everyone having this procedure.
Regularly review data on outcomes and safety for this procedure.

1.3 Clinicians should enter details about everyone having removal, preservation and reimplantation of ovarian tissue for restoring fertility after gonadotoxic treatment onto a suitable register, such as the UKSTORE register.

1.4 Patient selection should be done by a multidisciplinary team experienced in the procedure, ideally using nationally agreed criteria.

Why the committee made these recommendations

For people who need treatment that is likely to damage the ovaries and cause infertility, standard techniques for preserving fertility include egg or embryo freezing. But for some people, such as those who have not reached puberty, these options are not suitable. For these people, removal, preservation and reimplantation of ovarian tissue may offer the only chance of becoming pregnant in the future.

Evidence suggests that people who have had the procedure can become pregnant and have successful live births. The evidence did not raise any major safety concerns.