I wondered if anyone has gone down the IVF/embryo freezing route? My husband and I had been trying for baby number three when this BC diagnosis happened earlier this month. Thankfully it hadn’t worked out yet so I do not have the extra burden of a growing baby to consider.
I feel like i should just be very grateful for the two lovely boys I have, but always expected to have a large family so feel a bit cheated. When my nurse told me i could have ivf to make embryos to freeze, my initial reaction was that i couldn’t bear delaying treatment, or going through that physical and emotional hurdle as well as the cancer treatment. Plus if my little actually formed embryos were out there frozen, thay would seem like my children and i couldnt bear not giving them a chance later, it would be like giving up on them so I would feel obliged to try for them even if I didnt want to at that stage.
Now though I am reflecting that i may live to regret that decision. I can see an ivf consultant quite quickly apparently so i may do that. I have my lumpectomy and SNB tomorrow.
Anyone got any views/experiences? I am just turned 36 .
Just to add to msmolly, its definitely a personal decision.
When I was diagnosed, there was a thought in my head to get my eggs frozen but with everything going on I didn’t have time with mx the next week so didn’t. In hindsight I think if I was able and more with it myself I would have had it done.
Now knowing I am brca1, we did IVF didn’t work but opted for egg donation with possible look at donor embryo. You say you are having a lumpectomy and snb tomorrow and good luck for it. I do wonder though with so much going on, you only know what you can handle and seeing an ivf consultant will at least give you more information to make a decision for both of you but it will just be what you can do one step at a time and also what your onc will say too. And like on the thread there are other options if you do decide too.
Hi Tors
I did go down this route - was in very early pregnancy when diagnosed but it was found to be anembryonic after my mx, so I had icsi before chemo - it only delayed treatment by one week, but sadly didn’t work. Only one egg was harvested, which was immature and took 2 days to fertilize, but then did so abnormally so could not be used.
I have no children yet, so had to try. I am now on zoladex to try and preserve my ovaries and my onc is happy to give me a future chance at becoming a mum, though I am reading MsMolly’s posts carefully.
I have looked at the linked thread, thanks for pointing me in that direction. Scary stuff. I think I should just be grateful for my two lovely boys and concentrate on fighting to be here for them.I have my op tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for spending the time reading and replying to my post. x.
You may find the BCC booklet ‘Fertility issues and breast cancer treatment’ useful to read as it discusses how treatment may affect your fertility and ways of trying to preserve it as well as as pregnancy after diagnosis and permanent infertility. If you would like a copy just follow is link:-
I hope your operation went ok. I had a mastectomy is mx for short? 2 weeks ago now and am due to start my chemo next week and have a estrogen positive cancer and have been thinking exactly the same thing about IVF. I am 34 and also have 2 little boys 4 and 2 years. Its hard to know what to do but I think also I am now beginning to think that I should get on with the cancer treatment and what will be will be in terms of fertility. Its very hard to know what to do and what is right for now and for the future. I hope you have decided. I am going to decide this weekend and I think I already know the answer.
I too was trying for number 3 when diagnosed. Because my grade 3 cancer was found at the end of my pregnancy but not diagnosed till she was 9 mths, i was told another pregnancy was unwise. I was offered IVF prior to my surgery but felt unable to make that decision with everything going on.
I am now of the opinion that trying for another would be unwise but do feel a bit cheated as i too wanted a big family.
Hi,
I was 34 when diagnosed in Oct 2008. I haven’t got children and actually my partner and I hadn’t really discussed it as yet. I was lucky enough to go to a fantastic fertility team at my local hospital and they guided me through the process. My partner was amazing - he decided I should freeze some embryos in case it was my only chance.
It was very emotional and tough having only just recovered from surgery and knowing that I had chemo due to start in a few weeks time, which was 3 days before Christmas.
My periods have returned and ovaries seem to be working so I’m hoping I may still be able to have children naturally. Now just working out if I should risk having children as my cancer was ER+. x
I thought i would update on my own position. I decided not to go down the IVF route and freeze eggs in the end, though i too feel cheated as i had always wanted a large family, although i am so so so thankful for my two little boys.
In the end, my decision had a lot of elements but overall i would say it was essentially a gut decision not to. The factors were:-
I wanted to get on with the treatment asap. I owe it to the two little boys i have not to jeopordise myself and my chances, and as nobody could say to me that the delay wouldn’t be detrimental, for me and my view of risk, that was a decider.
My tumour was only weakly Oestrogen positive, but again being given oestrogen to stimulate ovaries was too big a risk for me of kick starting any cancer cells remaining. Again, i wasn’t told it would, but my oncologist couldn’t say if it would or would not have an effect. For me in my circumstances, that again felt like too much of a risk.
If my periods do return, ( not sure if they have even gone yet, just had first chemo so will see if/when i get one), will i try for a baby? At present, I think not. Again, nobody can tell me whether that oestrogen surge of pregnancy will affect my survival chances, and for me personally that is too big a risk.
Also practically, if it did come back and I was pregnant, how could I safeguard myself and the baby properly and how could i do the best thing for my two little boys if i couldn’t have full treatment because i was pregnant?
So for me, in my circumstances and with my personal perception of risk, i feel my duty is to do the very best by the two boys I have, which means safeguarding that I am there for their future. This means no more babies, which is something for me to come to terms with but feels the right thing for me. I may change my mnd, and reserve the right to! But at present I am at peace with that decision and thought process, though I am sure i will agonise and grieve over it in time to come.
I dont yet have any children, and me and my partner have always wanted kids - which is why the bc dx was so devastating for us, the bc I feel I can tackle head on, but my onc advised not to have eggs frozen as my bc is ER+, so the boost of oestrogen (cant spell) would not be a good idea, and the same with the zolabex, also wouldnt recommend due to the boost of oestregon at the beginning (still cant spell) sh said because i;m only 30 my fertility should come back ok - has anyone else been told not to have this? I have spent many an evening crying with the thought of never being able to have children, and wonder if anyone else onc said the same? I’m due to start chemo on the 21st, but can’t stop wondering if there isn’t something else I can do to preserve my fertility. Any ideas?
i have no ideas at all Carly, it must be truly awful for you. My friend is a consultant oncologist ( handy for me now i am going through this) and has told me my periods are likely to come back as they were regular before and i am under 40 and therefore they usually do. My friend who my bcn put me in touch with was dx at 32 and her periods came back almost immediatley after her chemo stopped and have been regular since. I would feel entirely different if i was not fortunate enough to have children about my perception of risk and the best thing to do. Good luck
Hi Carly
Gosh, that shows how the advice that our oncologists give differs. I am 37 and was initially in very early pregnancy when diagnosed, and have no children. I miscarried, but my oncologist referred me straight to a fertility clinic (which didn’t work, sadly) and put me on Zoladex to try and preserve my ovaries. His opinion was that the chemo would soon kill off anything caused by a surge of fertility hormones, so there was no risk.
I am ER+ PR+ HER2+ and was initially told by the BCN that I could take a year off tamoxifen to have a child. My oncologist has said that he will do whatever he can to give me the chance to have children. He has said that I need to wait 2 years though, to get out of the most dangerous period for a recurrence.
I’ll have to wait for those two years to see if my periods come back, and because the fertility treatment didn’t work I have no back up plan. I have read various articles which say that pregnancy after hormone+ BC does not decrease the survival/recurrence rates, so I have made a decision to risk it. If I can…
There are plenty of people here whose periods have returned, and you are young, so I am sure there is every chance that you will be fine. Hugs to you. xxxx
i was 40 in april an spent my 40th having eggs taken out! 2 fertilised and are now frozen but even if they are used in the future (been told 2 years by one person and 5 years by another for ‘safe’ time) the % of it working are very low.
my sister sent me an article about a Sam Taylor Wood a filmwriter who is 42/43 had chemo and then had a child naturally - there is always hope out there and we have to have it!!!
B x
I am 35 and was diagnosed 31st March, married in April with no kids (we had planned to start a family this year but that’s all gone by the wayside now).
Both my fertility specialist and oncologist recommended that I get through the treatment of my Breast Cancer (Grade 3 IDC, triple neg) in particular the chemotherapy. They have put me on Zoladex to try and preserve my ovarian function and 6 months after chemo will look at harvesting some eggs for IVF. The fertility specialist recommended I wait two years after chemo before going through a cycle of IVF.
The thing that may complicate things for me is I am awaiting results of my genetic test. Given certain things they think I will have a BRCA1 mutation and may need to have my ovaries removed as well as double mastectomy. All that of course affects fertility options somewhat (although been told that they can still put me through IVF without ovaries as long as womb is retained)… lots to think about in the coming months!
I am 37 and was diagnosed with BC after trying for a baby (4 cycles of IVF)for years. I concieved on the last go and miscarried just before I found out I had BC. I was worried that all the IVF treatment brought on my BC but my Oc said that it is more likely to have delayed it/kept it at bay. My tumor was ER+. I am still hoping to have children but have been advised to wait until after all the BC treatment (5 years on tamoxifen). It’s a long time to wait and I am praying that all the chem hasn’t or won’t make me infertile. But however much I want a child I am not prepared to take a risk on my life (+ couldn’t do that to people who care about me). Luckily, I did freeze two embryos from my last IVF cycle (if they survive!). This might sound silly but does anyone know if I can try to get pregnant with them even if chemo has made me infertile or do I need to go down the surrogate route??? not sure and am very confused with all these options. Am due for 2nd bout of chemo in few days and dreading it!! I was told that pregancy as no effect on BC and that breast feeding reduced chance of BC and I presume reccurence - not increases it!! Obviously if you are still having treatment and then to concieve would be a risk, but not afterwards??? Can anyone give me some advice?
Keep up the good fight.xxx
I was advised by my consultant obstetrician/gyanecologist that as long as I retained my womb (with or without ovaries) and had successful egg harvesting, he would be able to support a pregnancy. I don’t see why that would be any different for you.
Also I was told it’s a ‘2 year penance’ after chemo to be out of the highest risk of recurrance. In my case I won’t be having tamoxifen as I am triple negative; but there are those who have taken a year off to get pregnant then gone back on it so perhaps that is an option for you? Also bear in mind that regardless of what age you are when you go for reimplantation, your eggs will be the age you were when they were harvested which will help your chances a little (can you tell I’m clinging to this hope myself? ).
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