What You Need To Look For If You Want To Get Pregnant After Cancer

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If you have had cancer and want to have children, you might ask questions, will your pregnancy be at risk? Or start when you can get pregnant again after undergoing cancer treatment?

Indeed there is no literature or theory that explains how long it is safe to get pregnant and have children for people who have had cancer. It depends on what cancer has been experienced along with the stage, the method of treatment, and the age of the prospective mother. Opinions say that women who have had cancer, at least wait up to 6 months after the last treatment to get pregnant again. Another opinion states that the right time to get pregnant after undergoing cancer treatment is around 2 to 5 years.

Before deciding to try to get pregnant

Things that need to be considered women who have just undergone cancer treatment are as follows:

Ensuring that the egg or ovum that is exposed to chemotherapy drugs or those exposed to radiation has been removed from the body
He finished treatment and recovered from various effects arising from treatment
It has been declared cured and free of cancer cells by an oncologist.

Cancer treatment that can affect pregnancy

There are three types of treatment carried out to treat cancer and have a risk in pregnancy, namely:

Radiation therapy. This treatment will damage cancer cells including normal cells that are growing. Thus, the fetus does not get maximum oxygen supply and supply and results in miscarriage, premature, low birth weight, disability, and various other growth and development disorders.

Operation. Surgery is usually carried out according to the part of the body affected by cancer. In this case, cervical or cervical surgery in pregnant women can make babies born prematurely and even miscarry.

Chemotherapy. This therapy is the administration of drugs to people who have cancer and for the type of drug, dosage, and method of administration according to the needs and cancer suffered. Mothers who received chemotherapy drugs in the form of doxorubicin (Adriamycin), daunorubicin (cerubidine), epirubicin (ellence), and idarubicin (idamycin) usually experience weak heart due to damaged heart cells. Meanwhile, when pregnant the heart must pump blood harder and work harder. If chemotherapy treatment is accompanied by radiation therapy on the abdomen or chest, it can increase complications in the heart. Of course this is very bad if it occurs during pregnancy.

Actually, pregnancy happens to survivor cancer is the same as pregnancy in general. But the difference is that there is a change in body function or physiology due to cancer treatment that has been undertaken by the mother. Various effects of treatment, such as unstable hormones, hypothyroidism, disorders of the heart or lungs, and various other disorders that might make pregnancy are at risk.

Risks that may occur if you become pregnant after cancer

Various other considerations when deciding to get pregnant after being diagnosed with cancer:

Children become at risk for cancer. Most people might think, pregnancy that occurs after suffering from cancer will give birth to children who are at risk of developing cancer as well. This is not entirely true, mothers or fathers who have a history of cancer do not make children at high risk of cancer. But indeed there are several types of cancer that are the highest risk factors caused by heredity and genes.

Recurrence. Almost all 'former' cancer sufferers fear recurrence, fearing that the cancer will grow again in their bodies. Recurrence is a risk that may occur. People who decide to get pregnant when healing, must be aware of the risk of recurrence they will face. For example, in breast cancer patients who are still taking tamoxifen. The drug is needed for breast cancer patients to support the treatment, but cannot be consumed during pregnancy because it will interfere with fetal growth and development. Whereas if you stop using the drug, the risk of breast cancer may occur again. For this reason, you need to consider how much risk of relapse when pregnancy occurs.

You should decide to get pregnant if you have consulted a cancer specialist (oncologist) so that you can find out if at that time the risk of recurrence is still high or low.

Infertility. Some cancer treatments may cause infertility or it is difficult to have children. Radiation therapy in the pelvis and abdomen, can make the ovaries or ovaries damaged and cannot produce good eggs. Chemotherapy in women can also result in abnormal reproductive hormones, and can even cause premature menopause.

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