Living with breast cancer
Breast cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy might affect your fertility. Some women can get pregnant naturally after their cancer treatment. But other women find they are unable to have children after treatment. Men who have breast cancer treatment may also have fertility problems.
Your diagnosis might mean you have to think about your fertility earlier than you had planned. Having treatment that affects whether you can have children can be difficult to cope with. Some people find this as difficult to come to terms with as their cancer diagnosis.
Talk to your healthcare team about your fertility before your cancer treatment. They are there to help you find a balance between treating your cancer and wanting to have children. National guidelines say that your doctor should discuss how your cancer treatment might affect your fertility at diagnosis.
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is currently the most effective way of preserving fertility. You take hormones to stimulate your ovaries to make eggs. A doctor removes the eggs and fertilises them with sperm in the laboratory. This creates embryos. It's possible to use donor sperm if you don’t have a male partner.
The embryos can be frozen and stored. After treatment, the doctor puts one or more of the embryos into your womb to try to make you pregnant.
This is called ovarian stimulation. There are several different ways of collecting an egg or eggs to be able to do IVF. Some of these include:
natural cycle IVF – this means using no hormones to help you produce more eggs. With this type of IVF your doctor collects the one egg you release with your normal monthly cycle
mild stimulation IVF – you have a lower amount of hormones over less time to help you release more than one egg
using hormone therapies such as in combination with a lower dose of IVF hormones. The drugs you might have include letrozole or tamoxifen
A disadvantage of freezing embryos is that it takes time and could result in a delay to your cancer treatment. IVF and freezing embryos are not always successful.
Talk to your healthcare team about whether having IVF could be a possibility. It's available for some people on the NHS but not in all parts of the country. The number of treatments you can have varies from area to area. You need to check with your doctor to find out what is available for you.
Doctors are able to take out and freeze women’s eggs. The process is very similar to IVF. You might prefer this method if you have no male partner and don’t want to use donor sperm.
You need hormones to stimulate the ovaries to produce the eggs. These are collected and frozen. This takes about 2 to 3 weeks. When you want to use the eggs they are thawed and injected with sperm to fertilise them.
Freezing and thawing eggs may damage them. So the process does not always result in a pregnancy.
Talk to your healthcare team to see if this is available in your area and if it is safe to do before starting treatment.
You can have a small operation to remove some ovarian tissue, which is then frozen. This is called ovarian tissue cryopreservation. The tissue is put back once your cancer treatment has finished.
If the ovarian tissue starts working normally, the ovaries may produce eggs. This allows you to try naturally for a baby.
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation services aren’t available everywhere but they are increasing across the UK. Ask your specialist if this is suitable for you and whether they can refer you to one of these services.
Some chemotherapy drugs permanently stop the ovaries from producing eggs. If this happens, you can no longer get pregnant and you may have menopausal symptoms.
Some chemotherapy drug combinations are less likely to affect your fertility than others. If you are over 40 there is a greater risk of fertility problems with any chemotherapy. Talk to your healthcare team about how your chemotherapy treatment might affect your fertility.
Researchers have looked into using hormone treatment to protect the ovaries from chemotherapy. This means having injections of (LH blockers) while you have chemotherapy.
The aim is that the LH blockers stop your ovaries working during the time you have treatment. After treatment you stop the injections and your ovaries might start working again. Your doctor may suggest this if there are no other ways to preserve your fertility that are suitable for you.
Some cancer treatments can affect your ability to get someone pregnant naturally.
Collecting sperm before treatment means you might still be able to have children in the future if you want to. The sperm is frozen and stored until you decide you want to use it to have a baby.
This is called sperm banking or sperm cryopreservation.
Find out about sperm collection and storage (sperm banking)
That Cancer Conversation is Cancer Research UK's podcast. In the episode exploring infertility and cancer, we chat with people whose cancer journey has had an impact on their fertility.
It also features Professor Richard Anderson, Deputy Director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Reproductive Health. We explore options that are available and what the future of fertility medicine could look like.
Last reviewed: 26 Aug 2026
Next review due: 27 Aug 2029
It's important to avoid pregnancy during and shortly after treatment for breast cancer. It’s important to use reliable contraception as soon as you start treatment.
Getting practical, physical and emotional support can help you to cope with a diagnosis of breast cancer. It can also help you with life during and after treatment.
There are many organisations, support groups, videos and other resources to help you cope with breast cancer and its treatment. There is also information about mastectomy wear and prosthesis suppliers.
Treatment for breast cancer depends on a number of factors. The main treatments are surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted and immunotherapy drugs.
Breast cancer is cancer that starts in the breast tissue. It’s the most common cancer in the UK. It mainly affects women, but men can get it too.
About Cancer generously supported by Dangoor Education since 2010. Learn more about Dangoor Education
Search our clinical trials database for all cancer trials and studies recruiting in the UK.
Connect with other people affected by cancer and share your experiences.
Questions about cancer? Call freephone 0808 800 40 40 from 9 to 5 - Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can email us.
