Fertile Hope is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing reproductive information, support and hope to cancer patients and survivors whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility.
any survivors have questions about their ability to achieve pregnancy after cancer and the safety of pregnancy after cancer. The following information contains general advice that can help you make informed decisions about parenthood after cancer. For more information about your individual situation, please consult your medical team.
TIMEFRAME FOR GETTING PREGNANT
PREGNANCY & RECURRENCE
PREGNANCY & MENOPAUSE
MISCARRIAGE RISKS
PREGNANCY HEALTH RISKS
BIRTH DEFECT RISKS
RISK OF YOUR CHILDREN GETTING CANCER
TIMEFRAME FOR GETTING PREGNANT
Most oncologists recommend waiting 2 to 5 years after cancer treatments finish before trying to achieve pregnancy. The majority of cancers recur during this time, so they want to make sure that you are healthy before allowing you to try to get pregnant. However, everyone’s medical situations are different – some survivors have to wait longer and others are approved for pregnancy much earlier.
For women, it is usually recommended that you wait a minimum of 6 months after treatment. This is because your eggs may be genetically damaged from their exposure to chemotherapy and radiation while they were in the process of maturing. The time required for those eggs to leave your body is approximately 6 months.
For men, it is usually recommended to wait a minimum of 2 years after treatment. Sperm exposed to chemotherapy and/or radiation may suffer genetic damage and this damage is believed to repair itself within 2 years.
Many survivors are confused by the two conflicting answers they get when looking into how long to wait. This highlights the need for your cancer and reproductive doctors to work together to best determine what timeframe is safe for you from both perspectives.
PREGNANCY & RECURRENCE
Current available research on this subject is limited, but findings to date suggest that pregnancy after cancer does not cause recurrence, even after breast cancer.
PREGNANCY & MENOPAUSE
It is possible to carry a pregnancy even if you are in menopause. You will not be able to get pregnant naturally while in menopause, but you may be able to use previously frozen eggs, embryos, or ovarian tissue. You can also use donor eggs or embryos. Achieving pregnancy while in menopause may require hormone treatments to prepare the uterus. However, as long as your reproductive system is otherwise healthy, you should be able to carry a pregnancy.
