After much thought I have decided not to get my eggs frozen as I am ER + . My partner and I were trying for a baby before I was diagnosed so we are keen to go down the adoption route asap. Obviously, I know that this will not be possible.
I have spoken to a few agencies about the cancer and they are so vague about when I can start the adoption process. In theory, my treatment will continue for 5 years, but, in theory, I am cancer free now following my surgery.
As anyone experience of adoption after BC?
Hi there - I was in IVF programme just before the BC diagnosis and having fertility treatment, so this is off the cards, apart from perhaps trying natural IVF where they don’t use hormones and freezing an embryo and us trying for surrogacy later.
If not it’ll perhaps be adoption for us.
My BCN says that actually it’s not off the cards to adopt if you’ve had BC - I was so surprised at this as I would have thought anyone with any major illness/disease would be ruled out.
It’s not easy but it can happen and she knows of one lady and her husband who had no children and she was ER/PR, Grade 3 etc and she did adopt a little boy 2 years after her treatment.
I asked her in more depth but she was reluctant to give an opinion on this as it’s not her area, but she said not to think you definitely can’t be considered for adoption.
I don’t know if that helps at all?
Good Luck - its so decvasttating when this happens at an early age when youve not had chance to have a family
xxxxx
Hi,
I had breast cancer in 2005, at the age of 30, and last year we adopted two beautiful girls.
We had also been trying for a baby before I got diagnosed, and also being oestrogen receptive made the decision that although potentially I could get pregnant after treatment, it wasn’t the right decision for us in terms of maybe the cancer coming back.
We initially looked into adoption pretty soon after I finished my treatment (the chemo and radiotherapy, not tamoxifen, which I only finished in January this year) but after meeting with a social worker decided that we hadn’t quite got over the shock of breast cancer, and the knock on effect of not having our own children. We got married, grieved for the baby we hadn’t been able to have, and then in 2009 submitted our ‘application’ to the local council. We went on the pre adoption course early last year and were approved and then matched with our girls last summer.
Having had cancer was never been a problem for us during the process, the only difference was I had to have an early medical before our application could even be looked at, and they asked for a letter from my oncologist, stating my ‘outlook’ I suppose!
Adoption is a massive step, and I am glad we didn’t rush into it, and we waited until we had been able to deal with not being able to have our own children first. (Something that the social workers will want to talk about in great deal through the process)
Ours has been a very positive experience and if you decide to go for adoption I hope yours is too x
Thanks Suzy Su 
*hugs* that helps me a lot too. xxxx
Thankyou both of you, some encouraging news x