Questions to ask your cancer care team

The following questions may help you talk with your cancer care team about the impact of your planned cancer treatment on your future fertility.

• How might my planned cancer treatment affect my fertility in the future?
• Is there a chance that my cancer treatment will affect any part of my reproductive system (for example, womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix)?
• Are the effects of my cancer treatment on my fertility likely to be temporary or permanent?
• How might my age, or other factors related to me, affect cancer related fertility?
• When should I discuss fertility preservation and who can I talk with about this?

Cancer treatments can affect fertility by:

• Damaging or lowering the number of eggs stored in the ovaries.
• Damaging a part of the body that controls the fertility hormones.
• Removing or damaging a part of the female reproductive system.

The ways in which cancer treatments affect fertility depends upon the type of cancer and the treatment you may have.

Not all women that have cancer treatment will have a fertility problem in the future.