Having Children After Cancer

How to Make Informed Choices Before and After Treatment and Build the Family of Your Dreams

Yes, you can have children after cancer.

When faced with a cancer diagnosis, many doctors and patients rush full-speed ahead into treatment, giving minimal attention to the potential fertility implications. Luckily, the field of oncofertility is growing quickly, and medical writer Gina Shaw, herself a cancer survivor, is ready to unravel the complex and evolving issues involved in pre- and post-cancer fertility and family-building options—for both men and women. Having Children After Cancer gives you all the tools you need to:

• Understand how different cancers can affect fertility
• Identify which treatments―chemo, radiation, and surgery―can potentially impair your fertility
• Discuss fertility-sparing treatment options with your doctor
• Select the fertility preservation method that’s right for you—from freezing eggs, embryos, and sperm to preserving ovarian tissue
• Analyze the chances of getting pregnant—using natural methods and with in vitro fertilization
• Determinethe best time to get pregnant (and which drug therapies to avoid while doing so)
• Have a healthy post-cancer pregnancy
• Navigate surrogacy and what to tell prospective candidates about your medical history
• Consider adoption and learn about survivor-friendly adoption programs and countries
• Find sample medical letters and other insurance-company red-tape busting information
• Think through the implications of mother- and fatherhood after cancer
• Figure out how to talk to your children about the big C

With a foreword by top oncologist Hope Rugo of the UCSF Cancer Center, this first and only cancer-and-fertility guide for patients and survivors will allow you to be your own best advocate throughout the journey.