If you aren’t among the lucky customers of the other 10%, there are places you can go to apply for financial assistance with your fertility treatments. Several fertility clinics offer shared cycle programs which defray the costs of using donor eggs. If you are planning to use in vitro fertilization (IVF), the International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc (INCID) offers scholarships to those in financial need.

For women (and men) who are about to undergo cancer treatment and want to look into preserving their eggs or sperm for future attempts at having a family, Fertile Hope may be able to help. For those of us who completed our treatments before cryopreservation was an option, the SAMFund for Young Adult Survivors of Cancer offers grants and scholarships every year to help cover medical and other expenses – including those related to fertility treatments.

Of course, I have an application pending.

Post from: Blisstree

Financial Assistance for Fertility Treatments

Teresa Woodruff’s statement on www.kaisernetwork.org was music to my ears:

When a woman is diagnosed with cancer, the first priority is to save her life, Teresa Woodruff, chief of the Feinberg School’s new fertility preservation division, said. She added that although most women will survive, the treatments that attack malignant tumors and cells also can destroy the ability to conceive. “The fertility docs are not used to treating sick people; the oncologists are not focused on anything beyond survival … so this is about breaking down those barriers,” Woodruff said, adding, “On the day of diagnosis every cancer patient can be treated as a survivor, advised of her reproductive options from the very beginning.”

About bleeping time. Earlier this year I was surprised and saddened to see that after decades of research and advances in how cancers are treated that “fertility issues” received only a mention (pp. 27-28) in the 2007 Cancer Resource Guide published by www.curetoday.com. I was further convinced that cancer survivors are the unknown demographic in the world of infertility when Peggy Orenstein’s 8-page spread on egg donation that appeared in the New York Times Magazine gave us less than a sentence.

For long-term survivors like me, it is obviously too late to preserve eggs or reconfigure treatments to ensure future fertility. But thanks to a fabulous organization called Fertile Hope it is not too late for individuals undergoing treatment now. Fertile Hope is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing reproductive information, support and hope to cancer patients and survivors whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility. They even offer financial assistance to individuals interested in preserving their eggs or sperm in the hopes of post-treatment pregnancy. Other organizations, such as the SAMFund are expanding their assistance and missions to address fertility issues in cancer survivors. It is encouraging to see the medical community finally step to the plate.

Post from: Blisstree

The Oncofertility Consortium