Hi everyone,
My husband was diagnosed with bowel cancer a few months ago. He has had his surgery and he’s starting chemotherapy (Capecitabine) next week for 6 months. As part of the process, the NHS have funded him to freeze his sperm and store it for 10 years. However, when I asked the fertility clinic about using the sperm, they did not think this would be covered by the NHS. Therefore, we cannot conceive naturally for the 6 months of chemo, nor for 12 months after chemotherapy, due to the risk the drugs have on the unborn baby. And now it doesn’t seem we can afford to use the frozen sperm to conceive either.
We really wanted to try for a baby this year, so we were hoping if he responded well to his chemotherapy, then we could use IUI to try for a baby towards the end of the year. Has anyone had experience with using frozen sperm via IUI or IVF after chemotherapy, and whether the NHS funded this? If it’s relevant, I am 30 and he is 34, we have no children, non-smoking, healthy BMI, etc.
We’d really appreciate hearing anyone else’s experience with this!
Hi 8on and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I don't have the experience you're looking for but I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. I hope you don't mind me suggesting that you also post this in the bowel cancer group, which I can see that you've joined, as it's a mush busier discussion group than this one and you might find people who have the experience you're looking for there.
It might also be an idea to speak to someone at the fertility clinic again to ask for a definite answer on whether the NHS will fund this or not. For them to say "they did not think this would be covered by the NHS" isn't very helpful. You need to have a definite answer.
It would be great if you could pop something about about your husband's diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
