^{Dr. Johnathan Doolittle First in Oklahoma: OU Health Protects Fertility for Young Cancer Patients}

PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2026

OU Health is the first health system in Oklahoma to offer testicular tissue preservation for prepubescent boys facing cancer treatments that could affect their future fertility.

“Chemotherapy, you know, it may slightly impact fertility, it may irreversibly make a male or female infertile, or sometimes the impact is very minimal,” said Dr. John Doolittle, urologist, OU Health.

While adult men can bank sperm before treatment, prepubescent boys do not yet produce viable sperm, leaving them without potential preservation options, until now. Testicular tissue preservation addresses this gap by removing and cryopreserving immature testicular tissue, which can be stored until further scientific advances allow it to be matured into functional sperm for reproductive use.

The tissue obtained through a biopsy performed under anesthesia and then transported to the University of Pittsburgh, one of the few specialized laboratories in the United States capable of preserving immature tissue.

8-year-old Keaton was the first child to receive this treatment in Oklahoma. His mother says he has always wanted to be a father.

“He’s always loved babies and would talk about how many kids he would have and what he would name them,” said McKena Peck, Keaton’s mother.

“To think about thie impact this could have, I’m just really excited, mainly for the future of OU doing this for other kids,” said Peck.

Dr. Doolittle said costs can sometimes be a concern for families, but says recent changes in Oklahoma law now require commercial insurance plans to cover fertility preservation tied to cancer treatment.

“It’s opened even more doors for families to be able to hopefully afford this,” said Dr. Doolittle.

For more information about fertility preservation options and reproductive medicine, including testicular tissue cryopreservation, contact OU Health Physicians Reproductive Endocrinology at (572) 244-0203.