It was the biggest pregnancy news of the decade. When Belgian researchers reported that a woman had given birth following the successful transplanting of her own ovarian tissue – seven years after it had been removed and frozen prior to her cancer treatment – it made headlines everywhere.

The news was exciting because of the hope that it offered. Any female, even the very young, facing sterility due to cancer treatments could feasibly save her ovaries until she was well enough to conceive. It also would allow women who wanted to delay childbearing the option of remaining fertile beyond the boundaries of their biological clocks.

But was the news true? While there were a lot of doubts among experts in the United States, the reports, true or not, cast a renewed focus on a promising branch of fertility research.

Seven years ago, an anonymous Belgian woman was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Before she began treatment, doctors removed five small pieces of tissue from her left ovary. The pieces were divided and frozen in liquid nitrogen. After six months of cancer treatment, tests indicated that the woman's ovaries had stopped functioning.

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