Young female cancer patients unhappy with fertility discussions

Only 40 per cent of women happy with fertility discussions with their doctor compared to 64 per cent of men Sperm banking has been available for over 30 years Egg freezing has only just become available - Young female cancer patients are unhappy about the way fertility preservation options are discussed with them by doctors before starting cancer treatment, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Sheffield and The Children's Hospital, Sheffield. The pioneering study discovered that only 40 per cent of young female cancer patients were happy with the way their doctors discussed the options they had to preserve fertility, before undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy which can have a harmful effect on a patient's fertility. Researchers conducted the ground breaking study by asking 290 young cancer patients attending support group conferences organised by the Teenager Cancer Trust in 2004 and 2011. Their views were collected anonymously using Who wants to be a millionaire? style handsets to answer questions projected onto a big screen. All questions were answered by both male and female cancer patients aged between 13 and 22 years old who had been treated for a variety of cancers in UK hospitals. Steph Hayter, 23, from Hampshire was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia age 19. She said: "Having a family has always been important to me so when the doctors told me the treatment would damage my fertility I was devastated.