Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review

Objective: To study the feasibility of fertility preservation in a transgender man without an extended period of androgen cessation. Design: Report of a foundational case of oocyte cryopreservation in a transgender man without stopping testosterone therapy before controlled ovarian stimulation. We p...

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Main Authors: Kristy Cho, M.D., Rahana Harjee, M.D., Jeffrey Roberts, M.D., Caitlin Dunne, M.D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-06-01
Series:F&S Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666334120300039
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author Kristy Cho, M.D.
Rahana Harjee, M.D.
Jeffrey Roberts, M.D.
Caitlin Dunne, M.D.
author_facet Kristy Cho, M.D.
Rahana Harjee, M.D.
Jeffrey Roberts, M.D.
Caitlin Dunne, M.D.
author_sort Kristy Cho, M.D.
collection DOAJ
description Objective: To study the feasibility of fertility preservation in a transgender man without an extended period of androgen cessation. Design: Report of a foundational case of oocyte cryopreservation in a transgender man without stopping testosterone therapy before controlled ovarian stimulation. We performed a literature review, identifying five publications on oocyte cryopreservation outcomes in transgender men on testosterone. Setting: A university-affiliated fertility clinic in Canada. Patient(s): A 28-year-old transgender man taking testosterone for 3 years requesting oocyte cryopreservation before gender-affirming surgery. He desired to proceed without stopping testosterone. Pretreatment antimüllerian hormone level was 1.89 ng/mL. The patient’s consent was obtained for written publication. Intervention(s): Testosterone was stopped for only three doses (immediately before and during ovarian stimulation). A standard antagonist protocol was used with letrozole to minimize estrogenic side effects. Main Outcome Measure(s): Number of oocytes retrieved and days off testosterone. Result(s): Thirteen oocytes were retrieved; 11 were mature and vitrified. The total time off testosterone was 24 days. In all prior publications, testosterone was stopped for 3–6 months. Conclusion(s): Transgender men have traditionally discontinued exogenous testosterone until the resumption of menses (≤6 months). This is known to be distressing. This is the first published case demonstrating the feasibility of ovarian stimulation without prolonged testosterone cessation in a transgender man. Future studies with a larger sample size should be performed to confirm these findings. The short duration off testosterone may improve patient’s experiences, increase treatment acceptability, and decrease gender dysphoria for transgender men considering fertility preservation.
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spelling doaj.art-deea92be00b44a88919edca29706d0de2022-12-21T20:19:01ZengElsevierF&S Reports2666-33412020-06-01114347Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature reviewKristy Cho, M.D.0Rahana Harjee, M.D.1Jeffrey Roberts, M.D.2Caitlin Dunne, M.D.3Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Division of Gynecologic Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Division of Gynecologic Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Burnaby, British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Division of Gynecologic Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada; Reprint requests: Caitlin Dunne, M.D., The University of British Columbia, 500-4601 Canada Way, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5G 4X7.Objective: To study the feasibility of fertility preservation in a transgender man without an extended period of androgen cessation. Design: Report of a foundational case of oocyte cryopreservation in a transgender man without stopping testosterone therapy before controlled ovarian stimulation. We performed a literature review, identifying five publications on oocyte cryopreservation outcomes in transgender men on testosterone. Setting: A university-affiliated fertility clinic in Canada. Patient(s): A 28-year-old transgender man taking testosterone for 3 years requesting oocyte cryopreservation before gender-affirming surgery. He desired to proceed without stopping testosterone. Pretreatment antimüllerian hormone level was 1.89 ng/mL. The patient’s consent was obtained for written publication. Intervention(s): Testosterone was stopped for only three doses (immediately before and during ovarian stimulation). A standard antagonist protocol was used with letrozole to minimize estrogenic side effects. Main Outcome Measure(s): Number of oocytes retrieved and days off testosterone. Result(s): Thirteen oocytes were retrieved; 11 were mature and vitrified. The total time off testosterone was 24 days. In all prior publications, testosterone was stopped for 3–6 months. Conclusion(s): Transgender men have traditionally discontinued exogenous testosterone until the resumption of menses (≤6 months). This is known to be distressing. This is the first published case demonstrating the feasibility of ovarian stimulation without prolonged testosterone cessation in a transgender man. Future studies with a larger sample size should be performed to confirm these findings. The short duration off testosterone may improve patient’s experiences, increase treatment acceptability, and decrease gender dysphoria for transgender men considering fertility preservation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666334120300039Fertility preservationtransgenderovarian stimulationtestosteroneandrogenoocyte cryopreservation
spellingShingle Kristy Cho, M.D.
Rahana Harjee, M.D.
Jeffrey Roberts, M.D.
Caitlin Dunne, M.D.
Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
F&S Reports
Fertility preservation
transgender
ovarian stimulation
testosterone
androgen
oocyte cryopreservation
title Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
title_full Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
title_fullStr Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
title_full_unstemmed Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
title_short Fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone: a case report and literature review
title_sort fertility preservation in a transgender man without prolonged discontinuation of testosterone a case report and literature review
topic Fertility preservation
transgender
ovarian stimulation
testosterone
androgen
oocyte cryopreservation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666334120300039
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AT rahanaharjeemd fertilitypreservationinatransgendermanwithoutprolongeddiscontinuationoftestosteroneacasereportandliteraturereview
AT jeffreyrobertsmd fertilitypreservationinatransgendermanwithoutprolongeddiscontinuationoftestosteroneacasereportandliteraturereview
AT caitlindunnemd fertilitypreservationinatransgendermanwithoutprolongeddiscontinuationoftestosteroneacasereportandliteraturereview