Frozen ovarian tissue leads to birth after 23 years
A British woman had a child after tissue stored before cancer treatment was transplanted back.
A British woman has become a mother after ovarian tissue that had been frozen for 23 years was transplanted back. It is a single individual case, but the birth shows that ovarian tissue can be used over a long period to preserve fertility.
In 2001, shortly before her nineteenth birthday, Kassandra Bacon was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Because her treatment had to begin quickly, part of her ovarian tissue was removed and frozen. The aim was to preserve her later chance of having children.
The tissue was thawed and transplanted back in 2024. According to reports, ovarian function returned afterwards. Following fertility treatment, Bacon became pregnant; on 9 September 2026 she gave birth to a son.
The BBC and the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera report that the tissue had been stored for 23 years. Because the birth took place 25 years after the original freezing, both figures are mentioned in reports. This is not a contradiction: the transplant took place in the intervening period.
The storage and transplantation of ovarian tissue are used for patients who risk losing their fertility as a result of cancer treatment or another medical procedure. The method involves storing tissue containing immature eggs and transplanting it back later.
A recent long-term study of this technique described the return of menstruation and births among a group of patients after transplantation. That study supports the view that the method can be medically viable, but says nothing about the chance of success for one specific patient.
The birth is therefore hopeful, but not a guarantee for others. The outcome depends, among other things, on age, health, the original treatment, the quality of the stored tissue and the fertility treatment chosen. Moreover, the case is known mainly from public reporting and has not been published as a new peer-reviewed case report.
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The case was reported by two independent news organisations and is consistent with peer-reviewed research into the technique. The text explicitly states that it concerns one case and that the procedure offers no guarantee.
- confirmed Kassandra Bacon gave birth to a son on 9 September 2026. — This is reported by Corriere della Sera and the BBC. source
- confirmed The ovarian tissue had been frozen for 23 years. — The BBC mentions a storage period of 23 years; Corriere describes storage from 2001 and transplantation in 2024. source
- confirmed The tissue was transplanted back in 2024. — Public reporting gives 2024 as the year of the transplant. source
- confirmed Long-term research shows that ovarian tissue transplantation can restore fertility. — A peer-reviewed cohort study reports the restoration of ovarian function and births in the group studied. source
Editor's note
The birth and the storage period were reported by two independent media organisations. The individual case is not new peer-reviewed research and should not be read as medical advice or as a guarantee for other patients.Sources
- Healthy pregnancy using 23-year old tissue in scientific milestone — BBC World Service
- La storia da primato di Kassandra Bacon — Corriere della Sera
- Long-term outcomes after ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation — Reproductive BioMedicine Online
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „vruchtbaarheid kanker”
- NU.nl — „vruchtbaarheid kanker”
- De Telegraaf — „vruchtbaarheid kanker”