Devastation and Hope-Stories of Fertility in Oncology

Having children is a deeply held desire for many people. After a cancer diagnosis, fertility is often threatened by cancer treatments. The choice to pursue fertility preservation often necessitates a delay in starting cancer treatment which may negatively impact the patient. Fertility decisions are laden with heavy emotional burden and multiple ethical challenges. The narratives in this symposium provide rich emotional context, including allusions to failure, loss, guilt, fear, anger, hope, and acceptance. Given the important role of emotion in moral reasoning, exploration of these emotions supports further discussion of ethical challenges. Subsequent ethical themes include cost and unequal access, poor communication, and differing priorities between healthcare providers and patients. These stories draw us into the fearful intersection of cancer and infertility, yet they leave us with hope that many current challenges can be improved with open discussion and sensitivity to the needs of others.