Family hope for cancer survivor?

[Iwouldlikeafamily]

I had radiotherapy and chemotherapy in my pelvic area in 2006 (now out of remission) which left me with premature menopause, no fallopian tubes (they were removed when my ovaries where moved out of the radiation field in hope that at the end of the treatment I would be able to produce eggs again) and infertile.
I am fast approaching my 30th year now and would like to know who I can talk to about options about having a family.
I mention it to my consultant ever year when I visit him and he’s suggested surrogacy and adoption but I don’t know where to start and who my partner and I can speak to. I want to know if I am suitable to have a donor fertilised egg planted so that I can try to carry a baby?
My consultant and his team were and still are amazing, they saved my life but I feel really left out on my own now. I had some fertility tests well over a year ago in my local hospital and was promised a follow up but I’ve never had a follow up and I don’t know where to turn to find out about options.

Who should i approach to get support and information to help us make an informed decision about how we are able to start our family?

[Dr Madhurima Rajkhowa]

Hello,
I am very pleased to read that you are in remission, and all is going well. Certainly it should be very straight forward for your GP to refer you to the local tertiary fertlity centre (i.e.e one with an IVF clinic), so that they can discuss your options on an individual basis. To give you an idea-- there are two issues -- you have had pelvic irradiation, and I am assuming that you do not have periods. In that case, the team will ned to assess whether the uterus is healthy- is the lining of the womb of reasonable thickness, to allow embryos to implant, does it respond to hormonal stimulation? this will allow them to inform you whether yo need a surrogate or not. Then they need to look at your ovaries-- if your ovaries have been transposed and moved out of the radiation field, there is very good possibility tht the store of eggs is still intact. So they will assess whether your ovaries are functioning by blood tests to check hormones, and ultraosund scans. The final issue will be whether the ovaries are accessible for egg collection either transvaginally (usual route ) or transabdominally. I would suggest you should ask the questions to confirm whether your ovary is functioning or do you need donor eggs, and secondly is your uterus healthy or do you need a surrogate, WHICH IS a possiblity . There are good websites to find out more about surrogacy (check through googe), but first of all you need to understand your individual circumstance. I hope this is useful. Best wishes