Worth the Wait Speaks at Oncofertility Conference

Attending and speaking on the patient panel at the 15th Oncofertility Consortium Conference was a highlight of the year! The conference drew over 200 people from 6 continents, all of whom are interested in rights and options for fertility preservation for cancer patients.

We heard from reproductive pioneers who are conducting fascinating research about how pre-pubertal children diagnosed with cancer can preserve and later use frozen ovarian and testicular tissue. There are so many options available today and the future looks even brighter. Here are some highlights:

✅ Dr. Kyle Orwig is pioneering testicular tissue cryo. He and his team created Grady, a graft-derived baby monkey from testicular tissue.
✅ Dr. Sherman Silber is doing innovative work with ovarian tissue transplantation. One of his patients spoke about how she conceived naturally x2 after the procedure.
✅ Dr. Dana Kimelman shared a victory story about how she worked to get medically necessary fertility preservation mandated in Uruguay.
✅ We met several of the oncology navigators and nurse practitioners who refer grant recipients to us.

Thank you Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation and Dr. Kyle Orwig for organizing this conference and inviting us to participate.

A final note: We believe the biggest challenge in the field of oncofertility is that LESS than ONE-HALF of young cancer patients ARE COUNSELED on how their cancer treatment may affect fertility. Some of the most interesting research to us was how electronic medical record systems can be used to identify patients who need to be counseled and how important the role of the allied health professional (nurse navigators, PAs, social workers, etc.) is in fertility preservation education.