Becoming a Mother after Cancer

1-Feb-2019

When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, the possibility of becoming a mother is often excluded when, actually, just as science moves forward and beats the disease, assisted reproduction makes a pregnancy possible once the treatment has finished. In fact, eight out of ten women who have completed cancer treatment can become pregnant.

These patients have been through a hard life experience. Once overcome, when the time to create a family comes, they deserve all possible support in order to make this dream come true. The multidisciplinary evaluation of the Oncofertility Unit at Institut Marquès, international centre of Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Assisted Reproduction with an extensive experience in special hardship cases, with headquarters in Barcelona, Dublin, Clane, Rome and Milan helps these patients become mothers.

The unit, specialised in Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, consists of experts from different areas, amongst them oncology, gynaecology and assisted reproduction. They offer advice to oncologic patients about their chances to become a mother and propose the most suitable fertility treatment at every stage. The unit evaluates all general, gynaecologic, reproductive and oncologic background of the patient and issues a decision on the type of reproductive treatment that should be carried out. This multidisciplinary assessment helps these patients become mothers without increasing the risk of disease recurrence.

The patient gets, at all times, the information on the medical reasons that encourage or discourage a pregnancy. In case there should be any problem, the doctor explains the patient in a detailed manner which are the diagnostic tests or the oncological treatments that should be carried out before being able to assess her case again.

Nine out of ten assessed women are considered eligible to begin with an assisted reproduction process. Of them, 82% achieve pregnancy by means of different treatments and seven out of ten have become mothers within two years since they consulted with the doctor.

All oncological patients remain healthy after becoming mothers.

Preserving fertility in order to become a mother after beating cancer

Currently, egg freezing makes it possible for women to decide when is the best moment to become a mother and to postpone motherhood in case of having to face cancer during their most fertile years.

By freezing their eggs before undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, oncological patients facilitate the success of a future fertility treatment that will allow them to become mothers with their own genetic material. Egg vitrification opens, therefore, a new door to assisted reproduction techniques in order to have a child once the disease has been overcome.