Fertility and leukaemia treatments

Some people go on to have healthy babies after treatment for leukaemia. However, your fertility may be affected by some of the treatments, either temporarily or permanently.

Chemotherapy

Men and people assigned male at birth: Chemotherapy can cause infertility, which can be temporary or permanent. You may be on treatment 2–3 months before your sperm count is reduced.

Women and people assigned female at birth: Your periods may stop during or for a few months after treatment. You may get hot flushes, a dry vagina or other symptoms of the menopause if the chemotherapy affects your ovaries. 

Your periods may return to normal a few months after treatment. In general the younger you are, the more likely it is that your regular periods will return and that you will still be able to have children. For some, your period does not return after treatment and you may enter menopause.

TKIs

Taking TKIs while pregnant has been linked to babies being born with abnormalities. Because people with CML will most likely need to take TKIs permanently it will affect any plans you had to start a family or have more children.

Stem cell transplants

If you have a stem cell transplant, you are likely to be permanently infertile after treatment.

Are there any options if I want to have children?

Discuss any worries you have about infertility with your doctor before treatment starts. They will tell you if there are any options open to you. 

SIMS IVF Clinic provides a service where eggs or sperm can be frozen for later use. This service is paid for by the clinic and the HSE. With a fast-growing (acute) leukaemia like AML or ALL, treatment normally needs to start quickly to get the disease under control, so there may not be time to freeze eggs or sperm, especially eggs, as this process can take a few weeks. For more information, visit www.sims.ie/oncology-patients