Fertility Preservation

It is unfortunate; however, many peak reproductive aged adults (25-35 years) battle cancer every year. In most cases, they are never informed of the possible effects the disease and resulting treatment(s) could have on their fertility and only in time discover the end results. This is not necessary as there are multiple available options to preserve one's fertility and multiple programs that can offset most of the patient's costs. The most important factors are a patient's and physician's knowledge of available options concerning fertility preservation and quick timeliness in seeking it.

It total, the American Cancer Society projects around 140,000 new cancer cases in individuals under the age of 45 each year; 38% of the cases in male patients and 62% of the cases in female patients. Most of these patients will go through cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, without ever being notified of available fertility preservation options that could be completed within a short window of time, two to three weeks. Both chemotherapy and radiotherapy adversely affect one's reproductive function; it's just a matter of how much. While it may not necessarily result in premature menopause, it ALWAYS has some effect on fertility, most commonly loss of ovarian follicles and reduced sperm count and quality. Chemotherapy, alone, adds at least 10 years of "real age" or "ovarian age" with relationship to reproductive function. This means a 25-year-old going through chemotherapy will behave, reproductively, like a 35-year-old. Therefore, it is very important that fertility preservation be completed prior to cancer treatment no matter whether it is a female or male patient.