Cancer Treatment - Ways To Preserve Fertility Before Undergoing It!

Cancer or rather cancer treatment messes up a person’s reproductive system and can become an impediment to having children. A person can be diagnosed with infertility if she/he has been trying to produce a child for nearly a year and has been unsuccessful.

How does cancer treatment lead to infertility?

• Radiation reduces blood supply to the uterus and damages its cells. Even if a woman conceives while under treatment, the chances of miscarriage, low birth weight and early birth are high.
• Cancer treatment may include surgical removal of a part of the cervix. This too leads to miscarriage because the cervix is unable to support the pregnancy.
• The drugs used in chemotherapy damages a woman’s eggs
• If a man undergoes chemotherapy as a child, it can affect the development of his testicles. Or the testicles may be damaged and this impedes the production of sperms.
• In the case of an adult male, chemotherapy reduces sperm count or it tampers with the sperm’s ability to fertilize eggs. If a child is conceived right after the termination of radiation or chemotherapy, the child is likely to suffer a host of ailments.

How to preserve your fertility if you are undergoing cancer treatment?

Sometimes infertility caused by cancer treatment is not permanent. Women are advised to wait at least six months, the time required for the damaged eggs to leave the system before they try to conceive. Men should wait at least two years for their sperm count to normalize. If your doctor tells you that the effects of treatment may last a lifetime then you can try some alternative methods-

• Embryo cryopreservation - Your eggs are stored through this process. The eggs are harvested, In-vitro fertilization then fertilizes the eggs and finally the fertilized eggs are frozen and stored. At the start of the menstrual cycle, a woman is injected with specific hormones which result in the release of multiple eggs. This process is called ovarian stimulation. Both your gynaecologist and oncologist need to be consulted so that they can time the two processes.
• Egg freezing - It is almost the same as embryo cryopreservation. But through this process, the unfertilized eggs, and not the embryo, are frozen.
• Ovarian transposition - Sometimes, your doctor may suggest a certain type of surgery called Ovarian Transposition. This process repositions your ovaries. This is effective only for radiation treatment and not chemotherapy.
• Ovarian suppression - Hormones are injected into the body and they inhibit the function of the ovaries. This keeps the eggs safe from the effects of radiation or chemotherapy.
• Sperm cryopreservation - The only truly effective way you can father a child if you undergo chemotherapy is Sperm Cryopreservation. Before the onset of treatment, provide sperm samples to the sperm bank which will freeze and store the samples.

Cancer treatment can interfere with your body’s ability to reproduce. But the problem is not irremediable. Consult your doctor who understands your medical condition and she/he can suggest the best course of action for you.