Will treatment for my cancer affect my ability to have children?
Cancer treatments can be essential to future health, but they may negatively impact your ability to have children. Certain treatments that affect sex organs or hormones can cause a woman to have trouble conceiving or trouble carrying a baby in the womb.
Before beginning cancer treatment, it is important to ask your doctor about the options you have, and how specific routes are likely to impact your ability to have children.
Factors That May Influence Fertility
Many factors influence whether a woman’s fertility will be affected by cancer treatment.
These include:
Type of treatment
Type of cancer
Age at the time of treatment
Treatment dose
Length of treatment
Your doctor can help you determine how these factors will impact you according to the specifics of your case.
Risks of Specific Treatments
The type of cancer treatment a woman endures has the most impact on fertility.
Surgery
Certain surgeries may affect a woman’s ability to have children depending on what is removed and from where. If the uterus is removed, a child cannot be conceived and carried. Surgeries performed around the pelvis and abdomen may create scar tissue that blocks the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or uterus, which prevents eggs from meeting sperm to be fertilized.
Radiation
If radiation treatment is specifically aimed at or around the reproductive organs, it can affect a woman’s fertility and the function of those organs.
Chemotherapy
This treatment attacks cells that divide rapidly. Oocytes, or the hormones needed to release an egg for possible pregnancy, divide quickly and may be attacked by chemo.
Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy can interrupt the menstrual cycle, which in turn can affect ovulation and lead to fertility issues.
Fertility Preservation
Understanding the risks of each treatment can help you understand if and what fertility preservation tactics are available to you. These options include egg freezing, where eggs are harvested and frozen for later use when pregnancy may be possible.
For more information on how cancer treatments can affect your fertility, consult your doctor. You can also find more information on the effects of cancer treatment on our website.