Fertility preservation is a branch of medicine that utilizes technology and the knowledge of medicine to engage in practices aimed at ensuring the preservation of the fertility of people who may need such services. Application of fertility treatments are numerous and may be precipitated by illness, factors associated with aging, and prior to some surgical procedures that might have a detrimental effect on the reproductive system. The process of fertility preservation is beneficial to both sexes since circumstances may occur that might make it necessary to carry out the process in either gender.
Some of the circumstances that might make it necessary to carry out fertility preservation in a man include operations that may require a surgical removal of the testicles or some form of procedure that may affect the normal male reproductive functions. Another factor that could result in the application of the process to a male could be as a result of aggressive chemotherapy treatments for conditions like cancer and lymphomas. In the case of females, the reasons for the engagement in fertility preservation are more numerous than men due to the fact that the reproductive system of women has a shorter shelf life than that of men, figuratively speaking. As such, when women reach a certain age, they may decide to use the process of fertility preservation to ensure that they still have options for fertility later on, even when their natural ability to reproduce may have declined considerably. Women may also engage in the process of fertility preservation as a consequence of surgical procedures that may involve the removal of their ovaries, or other procedures that may negatively affect their reproductive capabilities.
The methods applied toward fertility preservation largely depend on the sex of the person and the analysis of the person’s situation. As such, the procedure for men is different than that for women, and the method applied to each individual may vary. Also, the technology involved in the process is still undergoing constant improvements that further increase the chances of the people who opt for the procedure. Basically, the common methods for the process are through the extraction and preservation of embryos or eggs in women and semen or testicular tissue in males. These will be kept frozen in banks until the owners are ready to reproduce in which case they and the fertility experts will decide the best route to go in order to achieve the aim.
