How to Conceive After Cervical Cancer

A woman's ability to conceive and carry a child after cervical cancer is entirely dependent upon the stage of cervical cancer that was treated and the procedures done to remove the cancer. If the uterus and a portion of the cervix remain, and the reproductive organs have not been made sterile with therapy such as radiation, then there is a possibility that the woman could conceive a child. A radical trachelectomy leaves a portion of the cervix intact and is a treatment option for early stages of cervical cancer that can preserve fertility and provide a chance for conception.

Things You'll Need

• Physician
• Partner or sperm donation
• Uterus or surrogate
• Functioning ovaries or frozen eggs

Show More

Instructions

Conceiving After Cervical Cancer

• 1

  Discuss your options with the physician that treated your cervical cancer. If you had a hysterectomy to remove the cancer, you will not be able to conceive and carry a child since you do not have a uterus. If you had radiation or other therapy that has rendered you infertile, you will not be able to conceive using conventional methods.

• 2

  Make an appointment with a fertility specialist if you have frozen eggs prior to treatment and have retained your uterus. Procedures such as in vitro fertilization can be used with frozen eggs and fresh or frozen sperm. In vitro fertilization is a process in which conception occurs in a lab, and the resulting embryo is transferred into the uterus.

• 3

  Talk to your doctor about surrogacy. If you no longer have a uterus but have frozen eggs or are open to egg donation, you may be able to have a child through a surrogate. The surrogate will carry the embryo through the pregnancy.

• 4

  If you retain your uterus and have not had radiation or chemotherapy that renders you sterile, then you may conceive naturally. If you have had a procedure like a cone biopsy or radical trachelectomy, your cervix may not be strong enough to sustain a pregnancy and you should be monitored by an obstetrician due to the miscarriage and premature labor risk.