Observational study reveals low fertility service referral acceptance and utilization among female childhood cancer survivors, highlighting persistent post-therapy barriers to reproductive care.
Counseling on infertility risk and fertility preservation (FP) is recommended for childhood cancer survivors (CCS). We describe agreement to and receipt of reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) services after counseling during survivorship clinic among female CCS 16-40 years old exposed to gonadotoxic therapy. Of 80 eligible CCS without prior FP or post-therapy REI referrals, 7 (9%) agreed to REI referrals, 1 (1%) attended REI consults, and 0 underwent FP. Survivors who agreed and did not agree to REI referrals had similar characteristics and infertility risk. Research to better understand patient-level barriers post-therapy and increase FP engagement is warranted.
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Saravanan et al. (2026) studied this question.
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