Fertility Preserving Surgery
- Fertility:
- Fertility preservation:
Cancer treatments that can cause fertility problems include:
- Chemotherapy – Chemotherapy is the medical term for medicines that kill cancer cells or stop them from growing.
- Radiation therapy – Radiation involves getting high doses of X-rays.
- Surgery – If a woman’s ovaries (female sex organs) are removed, she can’t get pregnant with her own eggs (ovum). If a woman’s uterus is removed, she can’t carry a pregnancy.
You should let your doctor know before you start cancer treatment. In some cases, treatment that has a lower risk of affecting fertility in future might be available.
Yes. There are options that can be done to help women to preserve their fertility.
- If you are getting chemotherapy, options include:
- If you are getting radiation, options include:
The best way to preserve your fertility depends on your cancer, treatment, age, and individual situation. Talk with your doctor about your different choices. To make your decision, you might want to think about:
- The benefits and downsides of the options
- How well your doctor thinks they will work
- How long they take – because some fertility preserving options could delay the start of your cancer treatment.
- How much they cost
If you still can’t get pregnant after cancer treatment, your doctor can suggest you other options:
- Couple can try to have a baby using a donated egg.
- Couple can decide to have another woman (called a “surrogate mother”) carry a pregnancy for them.
- You might choose to adopt.