Starting a family and raising your own children is a rewarding milestone. However, for some cancer patients, conceiving, carrying, and delivering a healthy baby could be more of a concern. Learn about fertility preservation that can help cancer patients safeguard their ability to conceive before they start cancer treatment.
Cancer Treatment and Fertility
Certain treatments can affect a person’s future fertility, so it’s important to talk to your doctor about these concerns before you start your treatment plan.
If you have cancer and are at childbearing age, or if you’re a parent of a child with cancer, talk to your cancer care team about the impact cancer treatment may have on you or your child’s fertility. Discuss the options you have for fertility preservation. Ask to be referred to a reproductive endocrinologist for more information.
Of course, not every patient will experience infertility after cancer treatment. Various treatments will affect people in different ways. Side effects all depend on:
- The types of drugs used and the amount prescribed
- The dose of radiation you receive and the location that’s being targeted
- The type and stage of cancer
- Your age and sex
- Any previous fertility issues
Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients
Reproductive specialists offer many options for fertility preservation. Not all cancer treatments cause infertility, but it is best to be proactive when it comes to family planning. Even if you aren’t sure that you want children, it’s best to understand your infertility risk and your options for preserving fertility, just in case you decide later that you want kids.
Preserving fertility for women
Women have many options for fertility preservation:
Embryo cryopreservation: In this fertility procedure, a reproductive specialist will collect a woman’s eggs. Then, he or she will perform in vitro fertilization (IVF) to fertilize the eggs with either the sperm from a male partner or a sperm donor. Next, the fertilized eggs are frozen and stored until the patient is ready to conceive.
Oocyte cryopreservation or egg freezing: Freezing eggs before chemotherapy can allow a woman to conceive a child in the future, even if she doesn’t yet have a partner. In this procedure, a fertility doctor will collect a woman’s eggs and freeze them without fertilization.
Oophoropexy or ovarian transposition: This procedure is for patients undergoing radiation therapy. Ovarian transposition is a surgery to move the ovaries to another place in the body, out of range of the radiation.
Preserving fertility for men
To preserve their fertility, men can undergo sperm cryopreservation, also known as sperm banking. Men will collect their sperm, and then a fertility clinic will freeze and store a man’s sperm to use at a later date. Sperm freezing will get the best results when the sperm is collected and stored before cancer treatment starts.
There are more methods for fertility preservation for men, but most are still in their experimental stages of being studied. One includes freezing and reimplanting testicular tissue after cancer treatment.
If you don’t have the chance to preserve your fertility before starting cancer treatment, there are many options for infertile individuals and couples to start a family, including:
- Adoption
- Donor eggs or embryo
- Donor sperm
- Surrogacy
Your Cancer Specialists
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada is a multispecialty practice consisting of medical oncologist, radiation oncologists, hematologists, breast surgeons and pulmonologists. Our team is trained to treat various cancers, breast health conditions, blood disorders, lung diseases, and sleep disorders. If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, learn more about our cancer treatment services and patient resources. We’re here to support you through your whole journey. To schedule an appointment, call 702-952-3350.