Cancer is rare in young people. The average age in Austria for a man to get cancer is approximately 65 and for a woman the age lies at 67. However, some kinds of cancer affect younger people, for example: leukaemia, lymphoma, breast and testicular cancer. These can all affect people at the peak of their reproductive phase in life.

At the KinderWunschKlinik Wels and Vienna, it is also possible for unfertilised female eggs to be cryopreserved for use in future fertility treatments.

In the same way, if a man has cancer, sperm can be frozen in the KinderWunschKlinik Wels or Vienna before chemotherapy or radiation takes place and can be used for fertilisation at a later date, if required.

Before the commencement of cancer treatment, the risk of damage to the ovaries should be made clear to the patient. If the patient wishes to have a child at a later date, the doctors should take all possible measures to protect the ovaries.

A few clinics have been able to extract eggs without previous hormone stimulation using in-vitro maturation. There is also the possibility of taking medication that protects the ovaries from chemotherapy.

Finally, the ovarian tissue can be extracted and frozen to be grafted back after the cancer treatment has been successfully completed. However, only a small number of pregnancies have been achieved using this technique.