What Are the Chances of Getting Pregnant After Testicular Cancer?
What Are the Chances of Getting Pregnant After Testicular Cancer?
If you’ve been diagnosed with testicular cancer, your treatment plan will depend on many individual factors, such as your general health and the size and stage of the tumor. In general, though, treatment typically involves surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of two or more of these options. Many individuals who are facing treatment for testicular cancer wonder if it will affect their fertility.
How Common Infertility Is After Testicular Cancer
The good news is that most men with testicular cancer who were fertile before being diagnosed are able to father children after treatment. A survey of men treated between 1982 and 1992 showed that 77 out of every 100 (77%) were able to father a child. Another 5 out of 100 (5%) did so after having fertility treatment. So that means that more than 8 out of 10 men (80%) who wanted to father a child after testicular cancer were able to do so. The biggest risk to fertility is chemotherapy but even then, about 7 out of 10 (70%) are able to father children.
If your treatment for testicular cancer does cause permanent infertility, you'll no longer be able to father a child. This can be very hard to accept if you were hoping to have children. You and your partner should discuss this possibility with your doctor before you start treatment. You may be offered the opportunity of sperm banking before starting treatment if you are concerned about your future fertility.
Surgery And Fertility
Sometimes the lymph glands (a network of glands throughout the body) in your abdomen need to be taken out by surgery, especially if they are still enlarged after radiotherapy or chemotherapy. This can affect your fertility because the operation can cause retrograde ejaculation. Retrograde ejaculation means ejaculating backwards. Your semen and sperm go back into your bladder instead of coming out of your penis. New techniques in surgery are helping to reduce this problem. Remember that although this surgery may mean you cannot father a child, it has no physical effect on your ability to have an erection or an orgasm.
Chemotherapy And Fertility
Chemotherapy causes temporary infertility in most men with testicular cancer. In some men, fertility may not recover, particularly in those who have had very high doses of chemotherapy. Talk to your doctor if you are worried about whether chemotherapy will affect your fertility. You can have tests to see if your fertility has gone back to normal and your doctor can talk this over with you. Some men with testicular cancer have a low sperm count before they start treatment. In these men successful treatment with chemotherapy can make their sperm count go back to a more normal level.
Sperm Banking
Usually, your doctor will offer you the chance to save some semen before treatment. If your sperm is suitable and you want to store some for the future, you need to give 2 or 3 semen samples over a period of a few days. You usually do this at a fertility clinic. The samples are frozen and stored by the hospital. 01 Fertility- having children after testicular cancer www.cruk.org/about-cancer The samples can be kept frozen until you’re 55. If you and your partner want to have a child in the future, the samples are thawed and used with fertility treatments.
You will have counselling at the fertility clinic before you have sperm banking. You will also need to sign a consent form that states how you want your sperm to be used. You will have blood tests to check for any illnesses or infections, such as HIV or hepatitis. The NHS often pays for sperm banking for men with cancer, but in some hospitals, you may have to pay for it yourself. If the cancer has spread and you need to start your chemotherapy right away, your doctor may advise against sperm banking because it could delay the start of your cancer treatment.
If Your Sperm Count Is Low
These days you may be able to benefit from sperm banking even if your sperm count is low. It is quite common for men with testicular cancer to have a low sperm count. Doctors and researchers have developed a technique that can help, called micro injection of sperm. This involves choosing good quality sperm from a sample even if the sample is poor quality with a low sperm count. The good sperm are then frozen like a normal sample. When you want to use the sperm, the sample is thawed and the surviving sperm are used to fertilize your partner's egg. The fertilized egg is then implanted in the womb to grow naturally. This is the same as the test tube baby technique. Doctors can't guarantee that it will work for you. Some sperm die when the sample is thawed. And the test tube technique doesn't always work first time.
About Iranian Surgery
Iranian surgery is an online medical tourism platform where you can find the best doctors and fertility specialists in Iran. The price of Testicular Cancer Treatment in Iran can vary according to each individual’s case and will be determined by an in-person assessment with the doctor.
For more information about the cost of Testicular Cancer Treatment in Iran and to schedule an appointment in advance, you can contact Iranian Surgery consultants via WhatsApp number 0098 901 929 0946. This service is completely free.
Source:
www.cruk.org/about-cancer