Anyone NOT do fertility preservation before starting chemo?

clarrn

I am 30.  We've just decided not to freeze eggs due to the cost as well as not delaying chemo.  This is the hardest part of the whole diagnosis for me.   First I was heartbroken when mastectomy meant no more breastfeeding, now I am terrified that it might mean not being able to get pregnant at all.  But stats are just numbers and I hope for healthy babies for all of us one day, biological or adopted  Good luck!

chknfeet

I was diagnosed Feb this year at age 38.  We were going through fertility treatments (everything but IVF) last year and this year was supposed to be the year of IVF when we found the cancer.  We will not be pursuing fertility preservation since my fertility doctor didn't think the chances of success would be high since they would stimulate me less aggressively due to the ER/PR+ of the cancer resulting in less eggs in addition to my history of miscarriages.  I agree with many that this is probably the hardest part of the diagnosis.  

andreamia

No fertility preservation and I was really scared when I went into chemopause. However, now four months post chemo and my period finally returned with vengeance. None of that spotty nonsense, a real period. Thank goodness. Hope it is regular and I can start trying to conceive in a few more months

kiwikid

this is such an old thread but I posted back in 2012, & wanted to return to say I did not preserve my fertility in any way. I had chemo then two years of hormone treatment which I took a break from to try to conceive. After two periods we stopped using contraception and got pregnant straight away! What a wonderful surprise at 37!

I hope you are all well

Xxx

teacherhikermom

I am 35 and ER+/PR+ and I am NOT doing fertility preservation (with the exception of Lupron during chemo). First of all, I already have three kids (all adopted) and also, I could adopt more kids if I wanted to so I don't feel the need to have a baby. I know adoption isn't for everyone but there are tons of available babies in the US (all of my kids were grown right here in the US) and didn't cost a penny (adopted from foster care). People think adoption is expensive and if you go through foster/adopt you have to get older children. Not so.

AzraNur

Kiwikid,

So happy for you! I was just looking for such stories and your case encouraged me a lot. I was diagnosed at 27 and now 33. I have just completed 5 years of tamoxifen. I have no kids and would love to have one. I hope I will soon write here my success story.. Thanks for letting us know about your pregnancy. Congrats

nature_lover67

I am 27 and am opting not to do fertility preservation. I was recently diagnosed almost 3 weeks ago, and I do not feel it is worth prolonging treatment for the chance of possibly having embryo's frozen for future use. I am devastated that chemo might take fertility off the table completely, but I can't worry about the "what ifs" and I need to act in accordance with what is going on currently. After reading these success stories it does help to give me hope for the future because I would absolutely love to have my own kids, so I am going to think positively for the future.

Good luck!

Youngwithbc

Hey Nature Lover... I totally understand how you're feeling. I can't believe I started this thread 3 years ago! That was a crazy time. Good luck with your decisions and feel confident in what you decide. If it makes you feel better, I'm now stopping my tamoxifen and soon will be trying to get pregnant. So fingers crossed! And I never did any fertility preservation.