Being diagnosed with cancer is overwhelming news in itself. Moreover, if a woman gets to know that the disease could also prevent her from having children, it could be traumatic.
Gynecological cancers like endometrial cancer or cervical cancer can severely affect a woman’s chances of getting pregnant and having children. This happens because of the surgery carried out to remove the cancer as well as other treatments like radiation. Radiation on the pelvis area can damage the uterus and this might make carrying a pregnancy difficult.
Some types of chemotherapy can affect your heart as well as lungs, an issue which can make your pregnancy quite complicated.
This can be very distressing news for any woman because motherhood is something every woman looks forward to in her life. Most of the women find the fact that their chances of having children might get affected emotionally disturbing, while some women give more importance to having a successful treatment and being alive.
Surgical procedures for cervical cancers and their effect on chances of pregnancy
For patients in the early stages of cervical cancer, fertility sparing surgery can be of help. Cervical conization is a surgical procedure carried out to remove just the central part of the patient’s cervix. This is a minimally invasive procedure and patients have had successful pregnancies after this surgery.
For patients whose cancer is in stage IA2 or IB1, the surgical procedure is little bigger and involves removal of considerable part of cervix as well as some tissue around the cervix, yet the remainder of the uterus is left intact. The lymph nodes in the pelvis might also be removed to prevent the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. This procedure is called radical trachelectomy.
The removal of most of the cervix results in the risk of losing the pregnancy in the early stage or delivering before completing the pregnancy. The patient needs constant monitoring during the pregnancy and might also require a caesarean section for delivering the baby. A cerclage or suture can help keep the pregnancy in the uterus. This procedure is relatively new and not very common. Your oncologist and obstetrician must be consulted and all possible risks discussed in detail.
In case of advanced cervical cancer, the patient needs radiation along with surgery. In such a case, ovarian transposition may be tried. It is a minimally invasive surgery. The ovaries are surgically removed from the pelvis and placed in the abdomen in such a manner that they are out of the radiation field. This procedure cannot help if the patient needs chemotherapy. Moreover, this procedure has a chance of failing because the blood supply to ovaries gets affected.
If you have to undergo hysterectomy, you would not be able to get pregnant after the treatment is over. Same is the case with radiotherapy which affects the working of your ovaries.
Some options available to cancer patients
If you have one ovary, your uterus is not damaged and you are having regular periods, you do have hope of conceiving naturally. If you are having unable to conceive naturally, you can ask your gynecologist about assisted reproductive techniques.
If both the ovaries have been removed, or your treatment has eliminated the possibility of healthy eggs, you can opt for donor eggs or embryos and carry the pregnancy as well as give birth. If you are unable to carry the pregnancy because of medical complications, you can have the embryos planted to a surrogate volunteer.
If your doctor says that you will be unable to carry a pregnancy because of a procedure like hysterectomy, surrogacy might be a good option for you. You can have eggs or embryos frozen before you begin treatment and then have the same implanted to the surrogate.
You must talk to your doctors before your treatment begins and ask them about all your doubts and fears. This might help you find the best possible option for yourself.
Author Bio:
Sameer Gupta is a medical writer who writes well-researched, in-depth cancer articles which provide relevant information to help patients combat the deadly disease. Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) prides in providing the best cancer treatment solutions to patients who have endured to various cancer types. With cancer centers in Philadelphia, Tulsa, Chicago, Newnan etc., CTCA aims at providing the best treatment options to cancer patients.
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