Original article
Fertility Issues: The Perceptions and Experiences of Young Men Recently Diagnosed and Treated for Cancer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.07.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To explore fertility issues for young men who had been diagnosed and treated for cancer and to examine communication problems surrounding these fertility issues.

Method

Narrative interviews were conducted with 21 young men previously treated for cancer in the United Kingdom. Eighteen talked about fertility issues at some length. A qualitative interpretive approach was taken, combining thematic analysis with constant comparison.

Results

Communication about sperm storage was sometimes difficult and embarrassing. Young men wanted the opportunity to bank their sperm but decisions were often rushed. Some would have appreciated counseling and were unprepared for the process of sperm banking and criticized facilities. Uncertainty about fertility status caused worries for the future.

Conclusions

More still needs to be done to help young men with cancer to address issues of fertility. All adolescents and young men treated for cancer should be offered sperm banking if their fertility may be affected. They should be offered counseling at every stage by professionals who feel comfortable talking about the subject. Interactive, educational CD-ROMs or websites may be useful. Physical facilities for sperm banking should be improved.

Section snippets

Method

One of the authors (MS), an anthropologist, interviewed 19 young men, previously diagnosed with cancer, who had either recovered from cancer, were in remission, or still being treated. Author (AC), a medical sociologist, interviewed two others. Eighteen young men talked about fertility issues at some length (Table 1). Almost all the interviews took place during 2004/2005.

With ethics committee approval, young people were recruited via doctors, nurses and support groups. We aimed for a maximum

Results

We identified four themes that appeared salient to the young men we interviewed; the importance of choice, the need for more counseling, concerns about sperm banking, and feelings about possible infertility.

Discussion

Schover et al [32] found that 91% of oncologists they surveyed in the United States agreed that all men at risk of infertility as a result of treatment should be offered sperm banking, but that 48% never mentioned it through lack of time, perceived expense, and lack of convenient facilities. Bahadur et al [33] found that boys as young as 12 years who produced a sample had sperm that was suitable for assisted reproductive technologies.

A survey of all 22 regional pediatric centers and all

Acknowledgments

We warmly thank all the young people who took part in the interviews, those who helped us recruit, our advisory panel, and The Wooden Spoon Foundation for funding this work. We also thank Cancer Research UK for a personal award to Sue Ziebland.

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