anyone had baby after chemotherapy and older mum?

[Woodelf]

I've just had my second major miscarriage and got out of hospital yesterday after ERPC. Feel pretty sh*y but determined to try again. I am 41 and had chemotherapy/radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer back in 1993 followed by 5 years of tamoxifen. Anyone know any experts I can contact about this stuff as I don't know if it's my age, the treatment or simply bad luck that I can't get a pregnancy to last. HELP!

Woodelf

[Spacecadet]

Not really any knowledge on this im afraid apart from being in the same boat re; misscariage as I had one 1.5 weeks ago, I would have thought that the chemo would prevent you from becoming preg in the first place, dont know if it would put you at an increased risk of misscarriage, hopefully someone will come along soon who can give you some answers.{{{hugs}}}

[aloha]

I also feel sure that if chemo/radiotherapy had affected you it would 'only' to make you less fertile/infertile. This, I know is possible, because it can affect the ovaries. I would have though from what I know about fertility (no expert but have written about it) this would not affect your chances of a successful pregnancy if you are able to get pg in the first place. Miscarriage is common, it is, sadly, more common the older you get, however the fact that you are getting pregnant is a very good sign. Good luck. I am also 41 and have a six week old daughter.

[DelGirl]

Am loathe to put anything down here because I would not wish to upset you at all but thought, as you are asking, I would advise you to speak to your gp, oncologist or fertility dept. I agree with the others though that the fact you have gotten pregnant is a good thing but so sad that you have you miscarried. My DH and I were told (he had chemotherapy) was that the chemo could damage his sperm and cause mutation in the feotus (sp). I'm not saying that chemo does this to the eggs but this is what we were told. Whether or not over time this rectifys itself i'm not sure. The fact that you've m/c and had EPRC's, the hospital would i'm sure be aware of your background so I would have thought if they thought it was a problem because of the chemo then they would say so. In my experience, they don't tend to hold back their views, even though they may be hard to take. I hope I haven't upset you at all and wish you the very best of luck in the future.

[tamum]

I'm afraid I would agree with delgirl, in that any chemotherapeutic agent is a DNA damaging agent, and could therefore cause mutations which in turn could result in miscarriage. I have found at least one small study that suggests that it need not be a problem though. I wouldn't have thought tamoxifen would be a problem other than maybe when you were actually taking it.

It is good news that your fertility hasn't been affected though (by age or chemo), and I wouldn't think there's any reason not to try again as any kind of DNA damage would be random. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all this, but don't give up hope.

[Woodelf]

Thanks for the feedback ladies! I'm not feeling as down as I was yesterday and definately will be trying again very soon. At least I can get pregnant which at my age ain't bad!

Thanks again

Woodelf

[tamum]

Good luck Woodelf, you deserve a lucky break