Fertility Preservation: Planning For Life Beyond Treatment
Oct 08, 2026
First published April 2017 Updated October 2026
Fertility can be a sensitive topic for some families, especially when children and adolescents are faced with life-altering medical conditions that could affect future parenthood. Unfortunately, fertility conversations may happen too late in the process, or patients aren’t always educated on their options.
These discussions should occur prior to treatment, be part of the care path, and continue routinely for patients who have conditions and/or are undergoing treatments that may affect future fertility.
What is Fertility Preservation?
Fertility preservation is the process of saving or protecting sperm, eggs, or reproductive tissue so that a person can use them to have a biological child in the future.
Which children could benefit from fertility preservation?
Several different types of medical conditions or treatments can cause long-term fertility and reproductive health issues. Some examples of these conditions or treatments are:
Cancer
Non-malignant disorders leading to bone marrow transplant
Rheumatic and renal diseases requiring therapy that can impact reproduction
Differences of sex development
Genetic conditions such as sickle cell disease and Turner syndrome
What are the different types of fertility preservation?
Currently, established fertility preservation options exist for males who have started puberty (such as sperm banking or shielding the testes from the field of radiation), for females across ages (such as oocyte or embryo freezing, shielding/moving the ovaries from the field of radiation, and ovarian tissue cryopreservation). Experimental options also exist, such as testicular tissue freezing for younger, prepubescent boys.
What specialties are involved in fertility preservation for patients?
When possible, it’s ideal to have a team of providers who can work together to offer comprehensive counseling and fertility preservation options to youth and families. This team may include individuals from any or all of the following disciplines: endocrinology, ethics, genetics, gynecology, oncology, psychology, reproductive endocrinology, social work, and urology.
What’s next for fertility preservation?
This field has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. Egg freezing and ovarian tissue cryopreservation have changed from experimental to established as more information has emerged on long-term outcomes. Fertility preservation programs are being developed at an increasing number of pediatric centers and aim to serve a larger and more diverse patient population.
Perhaps most importantly, researchers and clinicians are working together to better understand how to counsel each of these groups of youth and their families most effectively about this topic, to increase awareness and support among those at-risk, expand their options for parenthood, and optimize their quality of life.
For more information about Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Fertility and Reproductive Health Program, click here.
Leena Nahata, MD, is a professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and founding medical director of the Fertility and Reproductive Health Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist and the associate division chief for Research for the Division of Endocrinology.
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