Animal Models for Human Oocyte, Embryo, and Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation

Effective tissue and germ cell cryopreservation methods have been established to safeguard fertility and endocrine function in women. To reach such an achievement, a long way has been paved since the 1960s to develop suitable techniques and cryoprotectant solutions capable of preserving human embryos and female germ cell function and tissue structures. For this purpose, many animal models such as ruminants, rodents, and even nonhuman primates were adopted as experimental models before the scarce human cellular sources could be applied. In this chapter, we review a compilation of studies that used different species for cryopreserving embryos, oocytes, ovarian tissue, and isolated ovarian follicles.