“I won my battle with cancer, but I lost my femininity in the process.” This is a comment I hear from many of the women cancer survivors I care for in my practice as a gynecologist and reproductive health specialist. Underpinning this statement is a tone of resignation and frustration that a good outcome in one area could only occur at the cost of the other. On the one hand, the survivor is grateful to have overcome a life-threatening diagnosis, but on the other, her quality of life is significantly altered by the same lifesaving treatments that got her there...
The best time to implement fertility preservation methods is before cancer treatment begins, as this is when you have the most options available and sperm and egg quality are at their best. Leslie Appiah, MD