NHS Lothian transplants frozen tissue in UK first

NHS Lothian doctors have transplanted a 19-year-old man’s testicular tissue, frozen before chemotherapy, back into his body in the first procedure of its kind in the UK. The operation, performed in August 2026, is intended to give him a chance to produce sperm, but doctors have not yet established whether it has worked. The patient’s tissue was removed and frozen in 2023, when he was 16, before chemotherapy given ahead of a bone marrow transplant for a serious blood disorder. Tests three years after treatment found no sperm in his semen. Chemotherapy can permanently damage cells required for sperm production. Doctors plan to remove and examine some of the transplanted tissue to check for sperm production. Reports describe the assessment as planned for spring or after eight months; the timing differs, and no outcome has yet been reported. Even if sperm are found, their viability and whether they could result in a pregnancy or birth remain unknown. The patient, who has not been publicly identified, said the procedure had given him hope, while acknowledging that its success was uncertain.