A CANCER survivor battling to complete experimental fertility treatment has described her fight to have a child.

Kate Oliver, aged 28, had an ovary removed and cryogenically frozen prior to chemotherapy for bone cancer when she was a teenager.

Although the anti-cancer drugs made her infertile, she was told the tissue could be replaced and might enable her to conceive when she was ready.

Twelve years later doubt has been cast on whether she will be able to complete the procedure.

The Leeds NHS hospital where her ovary was extracted, said changes in human tissue legislation have halted progress countrywide.

Kate, of Buckland Monachorum near Plymouth, has already waited two years for an answer.

If it went ahead, she could be the first person to have a baby due to the technique in this country.

It has been reported that around 12 women outside the UK have given birth through the pioneering procedure.

Kate, a special needs teacher, said: "I just want my tissue back and to be given the chance to have a family.

"If it does happen it will be incredible. It's just the waiting and not knowing.

"I feel like I'm in limbo and I don't want to try anything else until I know whether or not I can have my own child.

"I want to try now because if this doesn't work I want to consider other options – an egg donation or adoption."

Kate, who is single, plans to use a sperm donor in order to give birth.

She was diagnosed with the rare bone cancer Ewing's sarcoma in her right shoulder blade when she was 16. She was given only a 40 per cent chance of survival.

Before starting chemotherapy, she was told it would probably make her infertile. She was given the option of 'ovarian tissue cryopreservation', an experimental procedure which could enable her to have children.

She took up the offer and underwent the keyhole surgery in Leeds.

Her left ovary was removed and parts stored in 20 vials at the specialist centre, where they remain today.

Kate had a major operation to remove her shoulder blade, and a year of chemotherapy. The treatment was successful.

Almost 10 years later, in 2009, she decided it was time to start thinking about having a child.

She contacted the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, about receiving the graft which could enable her to produce eggs, or the possibility of eggs being grown from the tissue to be used in IVF treatment.

Kate attended an appointment with her consultant in February 2010 and was told it could take around six to nine months before she could undergo a procedure.

"I always knew it was going to be a long process which is why I contacted the hospital a couple of years ago," she said.

"When I was told six to nine months, I was really happy. Two years later I'm still waiting. They are trying to push it forward but I've been told there is still no progress as there is not a satisfactory unit in any hospital in this country to perform the procedure."

A spokeswoman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said they are currently unable to carry out the procedure due to changes in the Human Tissue Authority legislation, since Kate's tissue was first stored.

She said: "Like other Trusts across the country, we currently don't as yet have the facilities to meet the requirements set out in this legislation.

"As soon as we are in a position to proceed with treatment, we will be in touch with Ms Oliver and other patients."

Legislation which has tightened around the storage, processing and re-implantation of tissue includes Human Tissue regulations, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and the EU Tissue and Cells Directives 2007.

The Human Tissue Authority said Chapel Allerton Hospital, also part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, holds a full suite of HTA licences, including a licence for processing tissue.