Mum has twins after ovarian tissue transplanted into abdomen

THE WORLD’S first woman to give birth after ovarian tissue was transplanted into her abdomen has revealed the joy her twin girls have brought.

Vali was the first woman in the world to have a baby after having an ovarian tissue transplant. Vali Creus with husband Dean and twin daughters L to R Alexis and Kaia, 1. Picture: Tim Carrafa

THE WORLD’S first woman to give birth after ovarian tissue was transplanted into her abdomen has revealed the joy her twin girls have brought.

Victorian cancer survivor Vali Creus wants to give hope to other women during ovarian cancer awareness month that they can still achieve their dream of starting a family, despite the diagnosis.

Even though her cancer came back, a shock discovery that was made moments after her babies were born, she is now in remission and savouring motherhood.

Mrs Creus was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 19. One ovary was removed and the other was frozen and thawed many years later.

After the stored ovarian tissue was grafted into her abdomen it took three years to become pregnant, but Mrs Creus said she never gave up hope of having children.

When the girls were born by a caesarean section her doctors discovered that the cancer had returned.

Fortunately they were able to remove it in the same surgery and Mrs Creus, 36, has now been given the all clear.

Daughters Alexis and Kaia, now 14 months old, have no idea what lengths their parents went to bring them into the world.

And parenthood has had more of an impact on Mrs Creus and her husband Dean than they ever imagined.

“It’s amazing, our whole lives have changed,” Mrs Creus said. “And it was a blessing to have two, without them I may not have known the cancer came back.

“And I’ve now been told I can’t have any more so Dean and I have now completed our little family.”

Her doctor, Melbourne IVF Fertility Preservation Service head Associate Professor Kate Stern, has revealed that she since helped a second woman ­become pregnant using a very similar grafting of ovarian tissue.

Scientists working with Professor Stern at Melbourne IVF and the Royal Women’s Hospital are also conducting research into a different ­approach in such cases.

This involves growing the tiny eggs from the ovarian tissue in the lab, preventing the need to graft the tissue, which always has the risk of containing residual cancer cells.

“It’s very important to have a range of strategies ­because for women with a hormone sensitive cancer or the risk of cancer in the blood vessels or ovary, there may be risks with grafting or stimulation of the ovaries,” Prof Stern said.

She said there was an ­increasing awareness of the importance of fertility preservation among both young women diagnosed with cancer and their medical teams.

“It’s no longer just a theoretical possibly. The reality for women is that they can have their own children after cancer treatment,” she said.

Originally published as Mum has twins after ovarian tissue transplanted into abdomen