Turner syndrome is a condition in which girls often lose their eggs at an accelerated rate. Some of the cells in their bodies lack both X chromosomes. As a result, they usually have a growth disorder and an increased risk of heart defects. In addition, breast development and menstruation may not occur due to an accelerated loss of eggs. It is a genetic, but non-hereditary condition.
Patients with Turner syndrome who want to have a child of their own are therefore advised to have their eggs frozen as early as possible, from puberty. After treatment Brussels IVF, the center for reproductive medicine at UZ Brussel, has now given birth to a healthy baby for the first time after having her eggs frozen.
“This step could offer patients with Turner a completely different perspective in the future, because a wish to have children remains something fundamental. In addition, the adjustment in the nomenclature can also determine the feasibility of these women’s desire to have children. After all, this fertility treatment is currently only reimbursed for cancer patients, while there are other conditions that have an impact on fertility,” says Michel De Vos, fertility doctor at Brussels IVF.