Hope for a child after cancer

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

The shock of being diagnosed with "cancer" makes everything else take a back seat. Also a later desire to have children. But chemotherapy and radiation therapy can irretrievably lose the chance to become a mother or father. Preserving eggs and sperm in good time can save fertility in many cases.

“I only perceived the impending infertility as collateral damage,” says Sebastian, 27, who was diagnosed with lymph gland cancer. By the time patients become aware of what infertility can actually mean, it is often too late.

For many, children are a part of life

Sebastian is one of four young adults who had their eggs, sperm or ovarian tissue removed and frozen before their cancer treatment. They report on their experiences in video messages. It becomes clear that sometimes even doctors hardly explain how fertility can be preserved in cancer.

"After getting over cancer, the young women and men want to lead a" normal "life. And that includes their own children," explains Prof. Mathias Freund, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer, which initiated the video project, among other things.

Patients have to pay themselves

A big problem that the foundation draws attention to is the lack of cost coverage by the health insurance companies. The young cancer patients have to pay a fair share of their own costs: women have to pay between 3,000 and 5,000 euros for the removal and freezing of egg cells, men around 500 to 1,000 euros for the removal and freezing of sperm. In addition, there are annual costs for storage of approx. 300 euros.

Not everyone can afford that. Sometimes the parents can step in. The 30-year-old Kathrin plundered the savings account that her grandmother gave her for Christmas. Those who do not have such support are left alone.

After the shock of the diagnosis, the young cancer patients find out that the preservation of fertility has to be financed themselves. This is also practically unknown to the general public and many politicians.

Demand for assumption of costs

"The preservation of fertility in cancer should in future be covered by the health insurances," demand Freund and the young patients in their video messages. Only one sentence in Section 27 of the Social Security Code would have to be adjusted.

Sebastian took the easy step of freezing his sperm to be on the safe side: “It's a first step towards the future,” he says. A piece of hope for future happiness. His chances are not bad: 80 percent of young adults who develop cancer will be cured today.

The video messages can be seen on the website of the German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer at https://www.junge-erwachsene-mit-krebs.de/projekte/krebs-und-kinderwunsch/.

Account details of the German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer: Postbank, IBAN: DE57 1001 0010 0834 2261 04, BIC: PBNKDEFF

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