Different Cancer Treatments and Your Child's Fertility

Regarding the effects of cancer treatments on your child's fertility, not all of them could adversely affect it. However, some could incur minor side effects, while others can result to complete infertility due to the resulting damage on his/her ovaries or testes. To give you a lowdown on how these could occur, read on.

• Radiation

This kind of treatment process could adversely affect your child's ovaries or testes. His/her sperm/egg cells are especially at risk if the radiation is focused on the whole body or on any of the following body areas: spine, abdomen, specific areas of the brain, and the pelvic area. The manner whereby radiation affects the child differs in accordance to his/her gender:

girls—Their uterine operations and menstrual cycle could be affected. Also, they may have problems with completing the full term required in carrying a child.

boys—Their sperm count and body's ability to move spontaneously may be affected.

• Surgery

Concerning your child's reproductive organs, your child's doctor could suggest performing surgery to remove their cancer-affected parts.

• Chemotherapy

Drugs used in chemotherapy that are considered more liable to cause infertility are the following: Procarbazine, Cytoxan, Infosfamide, Procarbazine, Melphalan, and Busulfan.



Contributed By: Maris Modesto