Skip to main content
Donate Now

Fertility Preservation Program (FPP)

The Fertility Preservation Program in Pittsburgh provides world-class fertility care services for adults and children. If you will be receiving treatments for cancer, bone marrow transplantation, gender dysphoria and other conditions, or you are getting ready to deploy with the armed forces, this is the time to explore options for having children in the future. The Fertility Preservation Program in Pittsburgh gives you options for having the family you always wanted or adding to the family you already have.

Adult patients can freeze eggs, sperm, or embryos prior to treatment or deployment. Those options are not available to all adult patients or to children who are not yet producing mature eggs or sperm. For these patients, we are approved to freeze testicular tissue or ovarian tissue that might be used in the future to produce eggs or sperm or restore fertility when experimental techniques emerge from the research pipeline.

Let’s get started together. To learn about the reproductive side effects of treatments and options to preserve fertility, contact one of our specialists today. This is a discussion that should ideally happen before toxic therapies are initiated or deployment into harm’s way.

The Fertility Preservation Program in Pittsburgh is committed to:

  • Educating patients and their physicians about the reproductive side effects of medical treatments
  • Providing a comprehensive, state of the art menu of standard and experimental options to preserve fertility and treat infertility
  • Pioneering new reproductive technologies and responsibly translating them to the clinic
  • Training the next generation of clinicians and researchers in the rapidly evolving discipline of fertility preservation

For more information:

Visit our website at fertilitypreservationpittsburgh.org

Call the Fertility Preservation Dedicated Phone Line: 412-641-7475

Email us at fertilitypreservation@upmc.edu

Research Studies

The following studies are currently enrolling patients. Please call our dedicated fertility preservation phone line at 412-641-7475 or email us a fertilitypreservation@upmc.edu to learn more about the options for preserving your fertility.

Members

Kyle Orwig, PhD
Director, UPMC Fertility Preservation Program
Director, UPMC Magee Center for Reproduction and Transplantation

Julie Rios, MD
Clinical Director, UPMC Fertility Preservation Program
Director, Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC

Glenn Cannon, MD
Pediatric Urology, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Serena Chan, MD
Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Erika Friehling, MD
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Lisa Parker, PhD
Director, Center for Bioethics and Health Law, University of Pittsburgh Department of Public Health

Additional Resources

Recent Publications on Fertility Preservation:

Pelzman D, Dederer G, Joolharzadeh P, Morrill C, Orwig K, Pulaski H, Hwang K.Effect of Distance From Fertility Center on Utilization of Fertility Preservation Referral in Men. JCO Oncol Pract. 2023. doi: 10.1200/OP.22.00789. [PUBMED]

Siebert AL, Gomez-Lobo V, Johnson EK, Nahata L, Orwig KE, Pyle LC, Witchel SF, Finlayson C, Laronda MM. Differences in gonadal tissue cryopreservation practices for differences of sex development across regions in the United States. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.990359. [PUBMED]

Ataman LM, Laronda MM, Gowett M, Trotter K, Anvari H, Fei F, Ingram A, Minette M, Suebthawinkul C, Taghvaei Z, Torres-Vélez M, Velez K, Adiga SK, Anazodo A, Appiah L, Bourlon MT, Daniels N, Dolmans MM, Finlayson C, Gilchrist RB, Gomez-Lobo V, Greenblatt E, Halpern JA, Hutt K, Johnson EK, Kawamura K, Khrouf M, Kimelman D, Kristensen S, Mitchell RT, Moravek MB, Nahata L, Orwig KE, Pavone ME, Pépin D, Pesce R, Quinn GP, Rosen MP, Rowell E, Smith K, Venter C, Whiteside S, Xiao S, Zelinski M, Goldman KN, Woodruff TK, Duncan FE. A synopsis of global frontiers in fertility preservation. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2022;39(8):1693-1712. doi: 10.1007/s10815-022-02570-5. [PUBMED]

Tran KTD, Valli-Pulaski H, Colvin A, Orwig KE. Male fertility preservation and restoration strategies for patients undergoing gonadotoxic therapies. Biol Reprod. 2022;107(2):382-405. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioac072. [PUBMED]

Doungkamchan C, Orwig KE. Recent advances: fertility preservation and fertility restoration options for males and females. Fac Rev. 2021;10:55. doi: 10.12703/r/10-55. eCollection 2021. [PUBMED]

Hinkle K, Orwig KE, Valli-Pulaski H, Taylor S, van Leeuwen K, Carpentieri D, Walsh A. Cryopreservation of Ovarian Tissue for Pediatric Fertility. Biopreserv Biobank. 2021 Apr;(2):130-135. doi: 10.1089/bio.2020.0124 [PUBMED]

Valli-Pulaski H, Peters KA, Gassei K, Steimer SR, Sukhwani M, Hermann BP, Dwomor L, David S, Fayomi AP, Munyoki SK, Chu T, Chaudhry R, Cannon GM, Fox PJ, Jaffe TM, Sanfilippo JS, Menke MN, Lunenfeld E, Abofoul-Azab M, Sender LS, Messina J, Klimpel LM, Gosiengfiao Y, Rowell EE, Hsieh MH, Granberg CF, Reddy PP, Sandlow JI, Huleihel M, Orwig KE. Testicular tissue cryopreservation: 8 years of experience from a coordinated network of academic centers. Hum Reprod. 2019; doi: 10.1093/humrep/dez043. [PUBMED]

Fayomi A, Peters K, Sukhwani M, Valli-Pulaski H, Shetty G, Meistrich M, Houser L, Robertson N, Roberts V, Ramsey C, Hanna C, Hennebold J, Dobrinski I, Orwig KE. Autologous Grafting of Cryopreserved Prepubertal Rhesus Testis Produces Sperm and Offspring. Science. 2019; March 22; 363(6433): 1314-1319. doi: 10.1126/science.aav2914. [PUBMED], [PDF]

Rothenberg SS, Witchel SF, Menke MN. Oocyte Cryopreservation in a Transgender Male Adolescent. N Engl J Med. 2019; 380(9):886-887. [PUBMED]

Useful Links: