Female fertility preservation in cancer patients: an instrumental tool for the envisioning a postdisease life.

Abstract

To verify whether fertility preservation (FP) improves the way women contemplate their life after the disease. 285 cancer patients referred for FP counseling were prospectively studied. A standardized questionnaire was submitted to all participants. A total of 85 patients (39.0%) returned the questionnaire. None of the women who rejected the FP proposal after oncofertility counseling returned the questionnaire. The median age of responders was 29.1 years (range: 18-40 years). In total, 35 of them (41.1%) were single and 72 (84.7%) were childless. A total of 66 women (77.6%) reported that the possibility of preserving fertility was instrumental to improving their coping with the burden of treatments. Since 61.2% patients perceived their cryopreserved oocytes or embryos as future children or family, the projection in a postdisease life may be at play in this improved subjective experience of treatment. The present results indicate that the simple fact of undergoing FP improves the patients' subjective experience of cancer treatments.