Baby for ovary transplant woman

        A cancer patient made infertile by chemotherapy has, in a world first, given birth after revolutionary treatment, Belgian doctors say. Ovarian tissue from Ouarda Touirat,32, was removed and frozen seven years ago before chemotherapy, then re-implanted into her pelvis last year.

        She conceived naturally and gave birth at Brussels' Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc this week, the Lancet reported. The researchers said all young women with cancer should be offered the treatment. Mrs Touirat, speaking at a press conference on Friday, said: "I'm very happy, it's what I've always wanted. It was a dream." Baby Tamara, weighing 3.72kg (just over 8lbs) was born on Thursday night. A spokeswoman for the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc said mother and baby were in good health. She said: "It is the first birth ever of its kind.

        "The implications are that if it has worked once it can be proposed to other women in a similar situation - woman who are suffering from certain kinds of cancer. "When they are cured this tissue can be re-implanted and hopefully pregnancy could ensue from that. Obviously the implications for the future are great."Lifesaving cancer treatment as a child of young adult can cause many women to go through an early menopause and become infertile. Radiotherapy is thought to be harmful than chemotherapy. Experts stress most women who undergo chemotherapy will not become infertile. However the treatment may lead the length of time they are fertile being shortened.Doctors across the world have been working to enable cancer patients whose fertility has been affected to become pregnant for many years.The Belgian doctors say the fact that a successful birth has been achieved offers hope to thousands of infertile cancer patients. The Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc says it has frozen ovarian tissue from 146 other cancer patients. So far, the tissue has been reimplanted in two.
- BBC News Online:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/default.stm