Fertility-related knowledge and reproductive goals in childhood cancer survivors: short communication

Do young adult survivors of childhood cancer know their fertility status, in the context of their parenthood goals and screening for gonadal functioning?

While 80% of survivors (who were without children) wanted children in the future, most did not know their fertility status, and screening for gonadal functioning was underutilized.

Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for infertility, but fertility counseling and assessment are underutilized. Separate studies indicated that survivors' fertility-related knowledge is poor and that they often wanted to have children. Yet, studies have not investigated the intersection of both issues, as well as potential distress if parenthood goals are not met.

Young adult male and female survivors of childhood cancer (N = 149) completed cross-sectional surveys, and data for those without children (n = 105, 70.5%) are presented here.

Participants were 20-40 years old (M = 26.5), diagnosed 5-33 years prior to study participation, and completed questionnaires online. Knowledge of fertility status, parenthood goals, and potential distress if survivors were unable to have children were assessed. Medical records were reviewed for hormone levels as indicators of screening for gonadal functioning.

Most survivors (n = 81; 77.1%) did not know their fertility status, while over 80% (n = 89) wanted children (neither aspect varied by socio-demographic/cancer-specific factors). Two-thirds of survivors indicated they would be distressed if parenthood goals remained unfulfilled; especially female (versus male, t = 2.64; P = 0.01) or partnered (versus single, t = -3.45; P < 0.001) survivors. Forty survivors (38.1%) had documented assessments of gonadal functioning, of which 33 (82.5%) reported not knowing their fertility status.

Relevant risk factors may have not been identified owing to limited sample size and missing treatment information. The underutilization of screening for gonadal functioning needs further exploration in other pediatric centers.

Most adult childhood cancer survivors want to become parents, but do not know their fertility status, which could cause significant psychological distress. Healthcare providers should continuously address fertility among survivors, but more research is needed on how to implement routine fertility counseling and/or testing.

This study was funded by the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital (V.L.) and Dutch Cancer Society (RUG2009-4442, M.A.T.). All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.