What if I decide to do nothing to preserve my fertility before undergoing cancer treatment?

There are many valid reasons why you may decide to do nothing about your fertility before treatment. Maybe your doctor wants you to start treatment right away, and you just don’t have the time to do anything. Your primary concern is beating the cancer, and you want to start treatment as soon as possible. Whatever the reason, there are many people who decide to focus first on getting well and choose not to pursure fertility preservation.

The truth is, not all cancer treatments are the same and each carries different risks of causing infertility in the future. Currently, for women, the chances of having a spontaneous pregnancy in the 3-6 years after treatment range from 5-28%, depending on their age, cancer type and treatment. For men, there is a wide variation in the length of time it can take to return to normal levels of sperm production and fertility. For some men, it may occur within a year; for others, it may take up to 10 years or even longer, if at all. Fertile Hope, an organization dedicated to providing reproductive information, support, and hope to cancer patients and survivors at risk of infertility, has developed a customized Risk Calculator to assess your individual level of fertility risk. The Risk Calculator takes into account your gender, your cancer type, and your treatment regimen to determine your risk of infertility in the form of a percentage. This information may be helpful to you as you decide whether or not to pursue fertility preservation options before you begin cancer treatment.