Home » Cancer stole so much from me – but I never considered how it would affect my fertility

Cancer stole so much from me – but I never considered how it would affect my fertility

by Marko Florentino
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But it wasn’t just the storage costs that shocked me. I soon learnt that even if I kept the stored sperm, I’d only be able to use it through IVF, an expensive process that isn’t guaranteed to be funded by the NHS. I can’t remember anyone explaining this back when I was 17; I had no idea that, down the line, having children would require not just medical intervention but possibly thousands of pounds. I had no idea if “frozen” sperm would work and what the odds were. I hadn’t realised that paying for the storage was only part of the picture. To this day, I wonder how many other young cancer patients are navigating life under the same misconceptions.

Nowadays, I’m in a very different place. I’ve built a career as a regional account manager for a company that supplies marine equipment – a job I absolutely love. I get to travel around, meet new people and no two days are the same. There’s a part of me that’s grateful for this unexpected path, even if it was born out of difficult circumstances. My original dream of joining the RAF may have been cut short, but I’ve found a fulfilling new direction.

I also have a supportive partner. We’ve been together for seven years now, and she’s been with me through the highs and lows of post-cancer life. She knows my story, understands the challenges and has always been there to reassure me. But I can’t help feeling that conversations around fertility – whether I’ll be able to have children and the potential costs of making that happen – have come up far earlier than they would have in a “normal” relationship. It’s the kind of serious discussion most couples don’t face until much later, if at all.

I tried to argue the case for better communication for all the departments that deal with cancer and fertility, meeting with heads of the reproductive and oncology departments. I shared my frustration at the lack of communication and the arbitrary nature of the five-year storage rule. At 17, I hadn’t known to ask about the costs of storage; I’d just been doing what I was told to survive. Why should I have to pay for a side effect of my treatment, something I didn’t choose? After hearing me out, the hospital agreed to send patients a reminder letter two years into storage, giving them a heads-up before the bill arrives. It’s not much, but it’s a start.



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