At Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, we value the importance of fertility and reproductive health as it relates to long-term quality of life. As treatment for childhood cancers and blood disorders have improved, more and more survivors are entering their reproductive years and thinking about starting families of their own. Since some of the treatments we use to fight disease can affect or harm fertility, we are committed to meeting each new patient before the start of treatment.
The fertility preservation team will work closely with patients’ primary care team to ensure that a fertility consultation takes place as a part of the patient’s comprehensive work-up. The fertility consult includes:
- Education about reproductive health
- Counseling about the patient’s individualized risk of infertility based on the proposed treatment regimen
- Information about the available options for fertility preservation
- Information on the financial implications of these interventions
If fertility preservation is desired, we will facilitate next steps to make sure that all needs are met in a timely manner.
Learn more about the options available to female and male patients: