A 19-year-old student has become the first person in Britain to have part of his testicles frozen and transplanted back to preserve his ability to become a father. The landmark procedure was carried out by doctors at Edinburgh University after the man's earlier treatment for a life-threatening blood disorder left him infertile.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, had testicular tissue removed and frozen in 2023 before undergoing a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy at age 16. The high-dose chemotherapy permanently damaged the cells needed to produce sperm, and tests three years later showed no sperm in his semen.
Pioneering transplant procedure
The transplant of spermatogonial stem cells back into the patient makes him only the second person in the world to undergo the pioneering operation. The stem cells are responsible for producing sperm from puberty onwards, and by freezing the tissue before treatment, doctors hope it can later be transplanted back to allow sperm production.
The first British patient recovered well following the transplant in August and will now be closely monitored. After eight months, some of the transplanted tissue will be removed and examined to determine whether it is producing sperm.
Hope for future fertility
The research team at Edinburgh spent ten years developing the procedure to prevent permanent infertility in boys. More than 1,200 patients in the UK and 3,100 worldwide have now had testicular tissue stored for potential future clinical use. Previous animal tests in monkeys showed the technique could result in a live birth.
The man said: “Fertility is something I’ve struggled with personally for a long time. I’ve always wanted to have children of my own but at some point, I found myself starting to slowly accept that that might never be possible for me. Having this procedure has given me genuine hope for the future. We don’t know yet whether it will work, but knowing that there is now even a possibility means more to me than I can really put into words.”
World-leading work
Study lead Prof Rod Mitchell said: “This is a big step towards helping boys facing treatments that damage their fertility to have children of their own. This study offers real hope for future fertility in boys facing cancer treatment.”
The man added: “I’m incredibly grateful to everyone for giving me this opportunity and for all the work that has made it possible. I also hope that being part of this research means that, in the future, other young people in the same position can have that hope too.”
Tracey Gillies, medical director at NHS Lothian, said: “This landmark procedure is an important step forward for young people whose future fertility may be affected by the treatment they need to overcome serious illness. This is a significant piece of world-leading work, and we are grateful to the patient and his family for helping advance research that could transform care for others in the future.”
The procedure was first demonstrated in a human patient in Belgium earlier this year, when testicular tissue frozen before puberty was successfully transplanted back and subsequently produced mature sperm.
