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Depending on your age and general health factors, you may want to consider efforts to preserve your future fertility.
You should also know that physicians recommend a wait of two to three years before conceiving after cancer treatment has proven successful. This is in an effort to provide further assurance that a woman is cancer-free before her body attempts to tackle the demanding task of pregnancy and parenting. That waiting period may be particularly difficult for a woman who is older or who has already been trying to conceive for many years.
That said, if you plan to use chemotherapy or any other treatments which your physician believes will hamper your fertility, you may attempt to preserve your future conception efforts through
When cancer strikes, priorities may change. A woman who formerly focused on conceiving may find herself faced with more life and death questions to ponder after detection of cancer. While it may be emotionally painful to take time out from conception attempts and change gears in order to consider and undergo cancer treatment, it is necessary. It is also crucial for patients to speak frankly with all of their medical providers -- reproductive and cancer specialists -- about prognosis of their fertility and ways in which their future fertility may be protected while undergoing cancer treatment.
Reichman, Bonnie S. & Green, Karen B. Breast Cancer in Young Women: Effect of Chemotherapy on Ovarian Function, Fertility, and Birth Defects, Salick Health Care, Inc., Patient Resource Center, October 10, 1997.
Tucker, Michael J. Human oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, Georgia Reproductive Specialists
Venn, Alison. Risk of cancer after use of fertility drugs with in-vitro fertilisation. The Lancet Interactive, November 6, 1999.
Breast Cancer Decision Guide, Breast Cancer Prevention, Education and Diagnosis Program Initiative.
U.S. Dept of Defense.
CancerNet, National Cancer Institute.
© Tracy Morris
