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Fertility monitoring in cancer patients
“Although the well‐documented hypospermia or azoospermia following chemotherapy and radiotherapy for Hodgkins disease of which all male subjects were aware, compliance with sperm testing was poor even among subjects who were married or engaged”
“Although some subjects exhibited an attitude of indifference, one man admitted “I haven’t gotten the nerve to pursue it”. Two men accepted responsibility for the pregnancies of the women they were dating without question.....
“These vignettes suggest that for many of these men, the possibility of sterility is so devastating to their self image that they invoke all types of excuses to avoid having sterility or “unmanliness” confirmed.”
Wasserman et al., (1987) Am J Dis Child 141: 2791‐ 2798
Fertility Monitoring in Cancer Patients
• For most was not seen as important and was an intrusion in their everyday lives, unlike oncology follow‐up which was important.
• Men were reluctant to take time of work or run the risk of having to explain the reason to their employers.
• Men tended to have semen analysis when they were establishing a new relationship or planning to start a family.
• A common deterrent to fertility testing was anxiety about the result. Men preferred not to know if their semen quality was poor.
• Informationaboutrecoveredfertilitywaswelcome,eveninmenwhodidnotwantanymorechildren because it contributed to restored feelings of masculinity.
Eiser et al., (2011) Human Reproduction 26: 626‐ 631
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