Fertility Preservation For Cancer Patients
A diagnosis of cancer is a frightening experience and we know that patients are trying to come to terms with what they have been told and with the decisions they will have to make regarding treatment. One decision we can help with is how to preserve your fertility for future parenthood. While the oncologist is anxious to begin treating the malignancy as soon as possible, a young, female cancer patient who is of reproductive years needs to be counseled prior to treatment regarding her fertility preservation options.
We have a special treatment protocol whenever we have a patient or oncologist call us about fertility preservation.
- We set up an appointment immediately for her to meet with Dr. Ramirez to discuss her treatment options.
- Dr. Ramirez will take her medical history and go over her treatment plan, answering any questions or concerns she may have regarding her fertility options.
- He will help her decide between freezing eggs and embryos, and evaluate her oncology treatment protocol. He will be able to tell whether the oncology treatment is severe or not and whether she will require fertility preservation. Sometimes, depending on the severity of the cancer and the urgency of the situation, it may not be possible to begin a stimulation cycle.
- Insurance coverage is verified to check if she has any coverage to help with costs. There are programs that offer free fertility medications for those going through IVF because of a cancer diagnosis.
- We will then schedule an appointment with our IVF coordinator for consultation and injection training.
- Stimulation will depend upon the amount of time available prior to the start of oncology treatment and the beginning of the patient’s menstrual cycle.
- The total time required for an IVF stimulation cycle and egg retrieval is usually about 3 weeks.
- All eggs or fertilized embryos will then be frozen in our cryotanks.
