Tomoko Morita had been married for three months when she found a lump the size of a marble in her breast. Just 31 years old at the time, she was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer.

Morita's doctor warned her that the treatment she would need to undergo in order to fight the disease, including chemotherapy, may prevent her from being able to conceive. She expressed concern about her future with her husband and even considered divorce.

Her doctor then suggested oocyte cryopreservation, a procedure in which a woman's eggs are frozen cryogenically.