TTC/Pregnancy after chemo

[rosepicture]

Have posted this in Conception but no real luck..

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of pregnancy post-chemo.

I had chemo earlier this year and am considering TTC in the NY. My cancer is all gone (highly unlikely to return), my cycles have resumed, and I'm basically pretty much back to health (still a bit skinnier than normal but I'm sure Christmas will change that...:) ).

There is basically no information on conception after my (very rare form of) cancer (ovarian germ cell), so I'm cobbling together information from Google searches, which is useful but obviously potentially not particularly reliable. All the information relates to testicular cancer (the male version of what I had, with a similar chemo regime) which isn't really very helpful (since the effect of the treatment on sperm and eggs is so different).

If anyone does have any advice to share, particularly as to why they were told to delay conceiving (if they were), I'd be really grateful. Information about advice given in relation to all types of cancer is very useful, since it helps me work out whether the reasons for delaying conceiving apply in my case (I rather think they don't, but don't want to make any rash decisions).

PM me if you'd rather.

Thanks.

I have had 3 pg's after chemo.One was about 5 yrs after but i mc,then i had dd about 7 yrs after and as an after thought dd2 who is 10 months. I had breast cancer btw.
I was told i wouldnt be able to convieve probably.I had 3 ds's already and it defo took a lot longer to concieve after chemo but i was older so maybe jut that.
Wat has your oncoogist said?

Can I ask when you started TTC after chemo? How soon did you decide to go for it?

Oncologist has said that a year is the 'party line', but he's known men get their wives pregnant as soon as 3 months after treatment and whilst he can't advise doing it that soon, he's never known there be a problem in these cases (he knows how keen I am to TTC!).

I realise that's men don't have to house the baby, but from my research sperm are more likely than eggs to be damaged by the chemo I had (since they are constantly developing and you therefore need to make sure you don't use sperm which developed whilst you were full of chemo drugs)...

Am so torn. Desperately want another and don't want to wait for no reason, but also obviously don't want to rush into it...

rose i will be back later im having a busy period tea activities and dh with a hangover grrrr

No worries- hangover at this time of the evening is pretty impressive/shocking...

Best go and relieve the nanny anyways...

I had a friend who started TTCing exactly a year after she finished chemo (some form of lymphoma - don't know the exact details) and was pregnant within the month. Obviously saying that won't hold the scientific validity of a peer-reviewed case report, but it does illustrate that some women can conceive very easily after chemo.

I hope you also are the same.

There is very little reliable data on the subject - believe me I've looked.

In my hospital the party line is still 'after chemo you should be grateful to be alive and not risk pregnancy'.
The Oncologists and surgeons body swerve conversations about conception or TTC.

The fear with chemotherapy for women is that it puts you into an early menopause. The closer you are to this the more likely it is. An 18 year old is very likely to conceive easily a 40 year old is not.

Once the chemotherapy is out of your system -roughly 4 weeks - theoretically you can TTC. There is no evidence that you should wait a year - but I can see why you would be told this - chemotherapy takes a lot out of you. I usually tell women that it takes about 18 months to feel 'normal' again.

If you have a germ cell cancer are you sure that a pregnancy wouldn't stimulate it? Would the increase in hormones have any effect?

It us much more clear cut for men - the can bank sperm easily. All very grey for women. Good luck.

I think the same could be said of any medical speciality which deals with seriously ill women of childbearing age - and as you say, it's more about the unknowns and the social taboos and the personal discomfort of clinicians in broaching such issues than the evidence at hand.

OP, thinking about this further - I suspect you might be better off talking to an obstetrician or midwife. Whereas they won't have the clinical knowledge (though neither do the oncologists anyway) they may have experience of caring for TTCing or pregnant women who have had cancer. A lot of independent midwives have particular experience of looking after women who have had particularly exceptional circumstances, and they do not need to act within any 'official' guidelines or protocols. In your position, I'd contact Independent Midwives UK to ask if they have any members who could advise.

There was nothing wrong with my post chemo babies and i dont remember the obs or mw having any issues with it either.I had the same ante natal care as everyone else,it wasnt mentioned.
I am happy to be alive,very happy.Being alive also means that i want to use my life to do things such as have more children with my new dh.Id resent being told i could only live half a life as i should just be gratefull to be alive

Scrooge - thank you. Appreciate it. Also thank you for the idea of the Independent Midwives: I will definitely give them a call and seek their advice. There's just so little information about all of this readily available: I can't be the only one who's ever had to make this decision!

DaintyNuts - again, thank you. It's very good to hear you agreeing with what I've been thinking: that once the drugs are out of my system (which happens quickly), it's pretty much all about getting my body back to full health and ready to host a pregnancy. Very interesting to hear about the professionals' attitudes to giving guidance... I had a big argument chat with DH last night about it, and just feel like I'm bashing my head against a brick wall, trying to get him to see that I do actually feel really good and healthy again. He isn't keen to TTC until I'm recovered, but I consider myself to already be recovered. I just don't know how to prove this to him: I'm already back exercising daily, pushing the buggy everywhere, back at work, running the house again etc etc, as though I'd never been sick, so am left wondering what else I can do, short of some IronWoman-esque challenge!

No risk of pregnancy reawakening the cancer: it's not hormone related/affected (I was given the opportunity to have some fertility treatment prior to the chemo).

Ledkr - very reassuring to hear you weren't treated as a victim patient when you were pregnant (am fed up to the back teeth of that!). And you summarised my feelings exactly: I want to grab life now with both hands, and that includes having more children. I feel that cancer stole so much of this year from me/my family, and I refuse to let it take anything else.

Dear rosepicture

I know exactly how you feel!
I am currently 33 weeks pregnant with twins after having breast cancer just over 4 years ago. My case is different as I am actually at high risk of recurrencd (g3)... At the time of diagnosis I was just pregnant with no3, had to have a termination, and the loss of that meang I coulc never grt on with my life unless I had another one. I was on antidepressants last year snc finally decided I had waited enough, I just turned 40 snd frlg this was my last chance. I had always been told to wait a minimum of 2 years, but better still 5. But that would havd meant havinv a child at 42!

Despite chemo, I got pregnant in 3 months, and its twins! At the moment I am excstatic! Like you anc others ssid, cancer had tasen a whole tear of my life (and 6 months of depression), a chunk of my breadt anc lists oz scars, this id my way of taking charge of my life again!

Hope what I've writtfn makes sense, just thought you might want to hear another story. Best of luck, xx