. A woman, known as Vali, was made infertile by ovarian cancer treatment, She had tissue taken from her non-cancerous ovary and had it frozen

. Seven years later, it was transplanted into her abdomen

. It produced two eggs which were fertilised and implanted into her womb

. Now 26 weeks pregnant and doctors are confident babies will be healthy

. This is the first time a woman has conceived after having ovarian tissue removed and then put back in a different part of her body

 

An Australian woman has conceived using eggs grown in ovarian tissue which was transplanted into her abdomen. The woman, known only as Vali, was rendered infertile by treatment for ovarian cancer. However, thanks to the pioneering treatment, she is now 26 weeks pregnant with twins.

 

When Vali was being treated for cancer, doctors at Melbourne IVF and The Royal Melbourne Hospital froze some of her non-cancerous ovarian tissue, The Age reports.

 

The team later transplanted the frozen tissue into her abdomen allowing her to produce two healthy eggs.

 

This is the first time that a woman has conceived after having ovarian tissue removed and then replaced in a different part of her body.

 

However, Vali’s fertility doctor, Associate Professor Kate Stern, warns that it has taken many years of treatment and almost daily procedures to achieve the conception.

 

She told The age: ‘When it happened I think we all had a good cry together really. Never once did she waver and tell us it was too hard and she wanted to give up.’

 

However, Associate Professor Stern says that it is very exciting that it has now been proved that ovarian tissue can function outside of the pelvis.

 

When she was being treated for cancer, keyhole surgery was performed to take a sample of Vali’s ovarian tissue from her non-cancerous ovary. This was then frozen.

 

Seven years later, the tissue was transplanted onto the wall of her abdomen. After months of hormone treatment, the tissue produced follicles and two eggs. These eggs were both fertilised and implanted into her womb.

 

The Royal Melbourne Hospital now hopes to set up a centre at which it could collect and store tissue from women with conditions that could make them infertile.

 

The hospital has already collected samples from about 300 such patients.

 

Gab Kovacs, the international medical director of Monash IVF, which did the first successful Australian ovarian tissue transplant, told The Age: ‘It makes me quite convinced that the optimal way for preserving fertility will be taking ovarian tissue.

 

‘If I had a patient who was going to lose their fertility to cancer treatment I would offer it from now on.’ 

 

By EMMA INNES

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