This guide focuses on fertility preservation options that are available before cancer treatment. A patient's type of cancer and other personal preferences and circumstances may affect the available options. Many of these methods are investigational, which means that they are still being tested and may not be available to all patients.

For women

• Embryo cryopreservation: the harvesting of eggs followed by in vitro fertilization and freezing of embryos for later use
• Radical trachelectomy: surgery to remove the cervix that leaves the uterus intact
• Oophoropexy or ovarian transposition: surgically moving the ovaries out of the field of radiation
• Other organ-preserving surgery and radiation therapy
• Oocyte (egg) cryopreservation: the collection and freezing of unfertilized eggs (investigational)
• Ovarian tissue cryopreservation: the freezing of ovarian tissue for reimplantation after cancer treatment (investigational)
• Ovarian suppression: the use of hormone therapy to protect ovarian tissue during chemotherapy or radiation therapy (investigational)

For men

• Sperm cryopreservation (sperm banking): the freezing and storing of sperm
• Hormonal gonadoprotection: the use of hormone therapy to protect testicular tissue during chemotherapy or radiation therapy (investigational)
• Testicular tissue cryopreservation and reimplantation: the removal, freezing, and storage of testicular tissue to be surgically reimplanted after cancer treatment (investigational)