Fertility Preservation for Female Surgeons

As the number of women in medicine exponentially grow, their participation in surgical specialties remains disproportionately low. Among the contributing factors are challenges related to fertility, delayed childbearing, and difficulties in family planning. Research shows female surgeons face higher infertility rates and pregnancy complications. Fertility preservation options such as storing embryos, oocytes, sperm, and reproductive tissues are options for female surgeons, yet are still limited by institutional, financial, educational, and ethical barriers. This review has the objective of identifying the unique issues female surgeons encounter concerning motherhood and fertility, and aims to identify solutions and options regarding fertility preservation.