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Is It Possible To Get Pregnant After Ovarian Cancer? An Expert Weighs In

Beginning the process of trying to conceive comes with all the questions, ranging from how to track your ovulation to the best foods to eat. But if you are an ovarian cancer survivor, then your list of questions looks a lot different. Topping the list are concerns about what your treatment might have done to affect your fertility, problems that might arise with the baby, and whether or not your sex life will be normal. So is it possible to get pregnant after ovarian cancer? Experts say it depends on a few factors.

"Women can get pregnant in certain conditions depending on their stage and if they still have one ovary or frozen eggs and the uterus," says Dr. Yvonne Bohn, an OB-GYN at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, in an email interview with Romper, adding that this is most common when the cancer was caught at an early stage.

Your fertility after ovarian cancer depends on a few factors, according to the American Cancer Society. In addition to the stage of cancer, your age at the time of treatment, as well as the method of treatment — radiation, surgery and/or chemotherapy — will all play a part in your fertility after surviving ovarian cancer. For instance, if your doctor was able to save one of your ovaries during surgery, then this will increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Bohn does caution, however, that one ovary may make it harder to conceive.

If you have just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, then discuss freezing ovarian tissue and/or eggs with your healthcare provider. The goal, of course, is to treat the cancer, but this may improve your chances of becoming a mother once you have completed treatment and/or surgery.

Above all, experts say, take heart. New advancements in medicines and treatments have made motherhood after ovarian cancer a real possibility, and that’s something everyone can be grateful for.