Fathering a child after cancer treatment There are no firm rules for how long men should wait after treatment, but health care providers usually recommend waiting 2 to 5 years. Sperm may be damaged by chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Those sperm should be replaced in 2 years.
Chemotherapy (especially alkylating drugs) can damage sperm in men and sperm-forming cells (germ cells) in young boys.
Fertility problems from cancer treatment may be temporary or permanent. Some people are never able to make sperm while others may be able to about 1 to 3 years after treatment. Sometimes people can make sperm again but may have low sperm counts.
Many organizations suggest that women postpone pregnancy for 6-12 months after finishing chemotherapy, so that they have time to recover and do not conceive with an oocyte that was maturing during treatment.
You may need to wait at least 6 months after your last chemo treatment to try for a pregnancy. This is because eggs maturing in the ovaries can be damaged by chemo. And getting pregnant too soon after chemo might cause birth defects or miscarriage.
Men can try to have a child after cancer treatment ends. There are no firm rules for how long men should wait after treatment, but health care providers usually recommend waiting 2 to 5 years. Sperm may be damaged by chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Those sperm should be replaced in 2 years.
Cancer treatments may affect your fertility
Chemotherapy (especially alkylating agents) can affect the ovaries, causing them to stop releasing eggs and estrogen. This is called primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). Sometimes POI is temporary and your menstrual periods and fertility return after treatment.
Women who conceived ≤1 year after starting chemotherapy for any cancer had higher risks of preterm birth than comparison women (chemotherapy alone: relative risk [RR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-2.7; chemotherapy with radiation: RR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.6); women who conceived ≥1 year after starting ...
Every pregnancy starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a birth defect. This is called the background risk. Exposure to chemotherapy early in pregnancy has been associated with an increased chance of birth defects above the background risk.
Whether your infertility is temporary or permanent depends partly on the drugs you have and the dose. You can ask your doctors if the drugs you're having are likely to make you infertile. Even if your periods stop during chemotherapy, you might still be producing eggs and could still get pregnant.
A male's body is constantly creating sperm, but sperm regeneration is not immediate. On average, it takes a male around 74 days to produce new sperm from start to finish. Although the average time is 74 days , the actual time frame for an individual to make sperm can vary.
If you have started treatment you usually can't bank sperm. This is because some treatments, such as cancer drugs or radiotherapy, may damage sperm temporarily.
Is there any risk to family and friends? You may worry about the safety of family and friends while you are having chemotherapy. There is little risk to visitors (including children, babies and pregnant women) because they aren't likely to come into contact with any chemotherapy drugs or body fluids.
The effects of chemotherapy on sperm production may be temporary or permanent. Chemotherapy can cause permanent infertility if the cells in the testicles are too damaged to produce healthy, mature sperm again.
The hormones, such as estrogen, needed to release eggs each month and prepare the uterus for a possible pregnancy are made in the cells of the ovaries (oocytes). Oocytes tend to divide quickly, so are often affected by chemo. This can lead to loss of those important hormones and can affect fertility.
Long-term side effects (late effects) can include damage to the heart, lungs, brain, nerves, kidneys, thyroid gland, or reproductive organs. Kids can also experience issues like delayed cognitive development, growth problems, or infertility.
During the first 3 months of pregnancy, chemotherapy carries risk of birth defects or pregnancy loss. This is when the fetus's organs are still growing. During the second and third trimesters, doctors can give several types of chemotherapy with low risk to the fetus.
Some cancer treatments can make it hard to have children. The ability to have children is called fertility. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery that harms the reproductive organs can affect fertility.
In general: Some chemotherapy drugs are more likely to affect reproductive organs than others. The highest-risk drugs are cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), lomustine, ifosfamide, procarbazine, busulfan, and melphalan. Others, like vincristine and methotrexate, are typically less likely to harm fertility.
Some chemotherapy drugs can damage the ovary or testis, leading to an increased risk of infertility (inability to have a child) and also, in women, early menopause. If this is an important issue for you, make sure you discuss it fully with your doctor before treatment starts.
It simply involves collecting a sample of semen and freezing it. Sperm must be banked before any chemotherapy or pelvic radiation therapy begins in order to avoid storing damaged sperm. The sperm can be thawed later and used for intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization.
This is called ovarian suppression. The hormone drug needs to be given at least a week before chemotherapy starts. It will stop your ovaries from working and may protect them from the harmful effects of chemotherapy and help to preserve your fertility.
Some studies suggest that moderate ejaculation (2–4 times per week) is associated with a lower prostate cancer risk. However, ejaculating more often doesn't mean your cancer risk drops even more.
There's no magic number when it comes to how often a man should release sperm. If you're actively trying to have children, sex every day or every other day can maximize fertility. Otherwise, fire away on your own schedule—regularly ejaculating may help reduce your prostate cancer risk and improve heart health.