An Australian woman left infertile after cancer treatment has given birth to a 'miracle' daughter after an ovarian tissue graft and IVF.
Baby Evie belongs to one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
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Her Victorian mother, left infertile after cancer treatment, is only the
second woman in the world to have given birth after her ovarian tissue was grafted into her abdominal and pelvic walls.
"It just seemed like the impossible," Jodie told AAP.
Jodie, 29, and her husband Aden, 30, still pinch themselves every day since the birth of their "miracle" daughter in May, almost six years after Jodie was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.
Evie's birth was announced on Wednesday at the annual scientific meeting of the Fertility Society of Australia in Canberra.
Associate Professor Kate Stern, Head of Fertility Preservation at Melbourne IVF and the Royal Women's Hospital, said the innovative technology was first used in 2013 when a Melbourne woman had twins, seven years after her ovaries were removed during cancer treatment.
Jodie and Aden, from Traralgon in country Victoria, had been together for about four years when she was diagnosed in late 2009.
The couple had planned to have children, particularly as "we were both teachers so our whole lives had revolved around kids".
Before she started chemotherapy, the couple had a quick round of IVF which didn't produce any eggs which could have been frozen.
Prof Stern told them of an experimental technique involving removing ovarian tissue which is then frozen and later stimulated to produce eggs fertilised through IVF.
Pregnancies have occurred when the ovarian tissue is later grafted back into the same position, but Jodie's followed the tissue being grafted into the abdominal and pelvic walls.
"We were so very lucky to be referred to the right doctor at the right time," Jodie said.
Their fifth IVF cycle led to the birth of Evie.
"This success confirms that ovarian tissue grafting provides a realistic opportunity for women to have a baby after being treated for cancer that leaves them infertile because of the surgical removal of reproductive organs or the toxic effects of some therapy," said Prof Stern.
While adult women may sometimes have the opportunity to freeze eggs prior to cancer treatment for fertility preservation, ovarian tissue is the only option for pre-pubertal girls, she added.
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