Having surgery or radiation therapy for ovarian cancer may mean you will be unable to conceive a child. This is known as infertility.
If you have stage 1 ovarian cancer and have not yet reached menopause, it may be possible to leave the uterus and one ovary in place (unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy). Talk to your doctor or a fertility specialist about what options are available to you.
Being told that your reproductive organs will be removed or will no longer work and that you won’t be able to have children can be devastating. Even if your family is complete or you do not want children, you may still feel a sense of loss and grief.
Speaking to a counsellor or gynaecological oncology nurse about your feelings can be helpful.
For more on this, see Fertility and cancer.
→ READ MORE: Managing menopause
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Dr Antonia Jones, Gynaecological Oncologist, The Royal Women’s Hospital and Mercy Hospital for Women, VIC; Dr George Au-Yeung, Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Centre, VIC; Dr David Chang, Radiation Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Prof Anna DeFazio AM, Sydney West Chair of Translational Cancer Research, The University of Sydney, Director, Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Director, Sydney Cancer Partners, NSW; Ian Dennis. Consumer (Carer); A/Prof Simon Hyde, Head of Gynaecological Oncology, Mercy Hospital for Women, VIC; Carmel McCarthy, Consumer; Quintina Reyes, Clinical Nurse Consultant – Gynaecological Oncology, Westmead Hospital, NSW; Deb Roffe, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA.
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