Fertility and Cancer

A cancer diagnosis during reproductive years can be devastating not only because of the diagnosis itself, but what it can mean for your family plans.

Regardless of your age, is important to discuss how cancer treatment will impact your fertility and what options there are to maximize your chances of conceiving at a later date. Indeed, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the American College of OBGYN have stressed the importance of that discussion before treatment is initiated if fertility will be affected.

Unfortunately, some surgeries and treatments will lead to infertility and can affect both men and women. And there may not be an option for fertility preservation such as preserving the ovaries at surgery or if receiving radiation.

However, there are other fertility preservation options that have proven successful. Sperm freezing has been around for much longer than embryo and egg freezing and all have been shown to be successful options for many patients.

A few issues that need to be considered. First, depending on the cancer diagnosis, some people are too sick and need to get started on treatment immediately. They do not have the luxury of 1-4 weeks needed to undergo fertility preservation. This is often the case with hematologist cancers (blood cancers). However, the treatments used are not necessarily toxic to the ovaries. Once in remission, it is a good time to consider egg or embryo freezing in case of a recurrence after which the treatment would almost certainly lead to menopause. There is also a possibility that the number or quality of the eggs decreases with treatment so getting eggs or embryos frozen as soon as possible is beneficial. Spark is easier since it can be provided even at the outset of treatment.

Another issue is the ability to carry a pregnancy. If surgery included removing the uterus or if there was radiation in the area, carrying a pregnancy may not be possible.

It is important to consider all options from preservation to surrogacy and adoption. These are very sensitive and emotional times and getting the help of professional that can help navigate all the emotions is important for your mental well-being.