If you decide to have fertility treatment you will have the same sort of tests mentioned in the fertility testing information. Your partner (if you have one) will also need to have some tests.
treatments
There are different sorts of fertility treatment. The type you are advised to have will depend on the way that your cancer or treatment has affected your fertility.
It might be useful to look back at the section about what is fertility before going through this section.
if your sperm count is low
If you’ve had cancer treatment and are still producing sperm but only in very low numbers, there may still be a chance of making your partner pregnant naturally. However, if you’ve been advised to have fertility treatment, you may be offered in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). These are sometimes called ‘test-tube baby treatments’ in the newspapers but the baby is not made in a test tube.
in vitro fertilisation (IVF)
The woman is given a course of drugs to make her ovaries produce more mature eggs than normal. A small operation is then done to collect the eggs. A sedative is given to relax the woman and a fine needle is put through the top of her vagina and into the ovary. The eggs can be collected through the needle.
The eggs are fertilised in the laboratory by mixing them with a preparation of your sperm. One, or sometimes two, of the resulting embryos are then placed in your partner’s womb in the hope that they will lead to a pregnancy. A pregnancy test can be done about 12 days later. If your partner is pregnant this can be seen on an ultrasound scan after about three weeks.
intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
In ICSI the eggs are collected in the same way as above, but they are fertilised by injecting the eggs directly with a single sperm. The rest of the process is the same.
stored sperm
If you have sperm stored and it is healthier than the sperm you are currently producing, your doctors may suggest that you use the stored sperm for IVF or ICSI instead.
if you are not producing sperm
If you’re not producing any sperm at all, you will not be able to have a child unless you stored your sperm before your cancer treatment. You may, however, be able to use donated sperm.
using frozen sperm
Frozen sperm can sometimes be used for a fairly simple fertility treatment if:
- the sperm are healthy when they are thawed
- you have a lot of sperm stored
- there are no concerns about your partner’s fertility.
Your partner will have blood tests and ultrasound scans to monitor her menstrual cycle and show when she is about to release an egg. When the egg is about to be released from the ovary your stored sperm is thawed and placed around the neck of her womb or directly into her womb. If this process is carefully timed it has a good chance of success and is the closest to becoming pregnant naturally. This process is called Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI).
using donated sperm, eggs or embryos
If you don’t have any frozen sperm the only fertility treatment available is to use sperm that has been donated by someone else. People who donate sperm are carefully chosen.
Their general health is checked and they are offered counselling to make sure that they understand exactly what it means to help infertile people in this way.
If you decide to have fertility treatment using sperm from a donor you will also be offered counselling and information about what it involves. There can often be a waiting list for this treatment.
using donated sperm
If your partner is fertile, treatment using donated sperm (which has been frozen and stored) is usually medically straightforward. The process is the same as for couples using frozen sperm.
This type of fertility treatment has good success rates and is called donor insemination (DI). If it doesn’t result in a pregnancy, your partner may be prescribed hormones to make the ovaries release more eggs. This process is called stimulated intrauterine insemination. The donated sperm is put directly into your partner’s womb. Treatments using donated sperm can also be carried out using the IVF procedure.
