Pink Ribbon Review | Raising Breast Cancer Awareness

Why I Celebrate Adoption as an Alternative

by Karen Lynch on July 3rd, 2008

Breast cancer is evil. It takes our breasts, it takes our hair … it takes some lives … and for some people, it takes the ability to conceive.

Are you one of the many people dealing with infertility issues as a result of your breast cancer treatment? You’re not alone. Because chemotherapy (and radiation therapy kill) kills not only cancer cells, but cells involved in the production of eggs. Hormone therapy brings on additional complications. For example, after my first cancer occurrence, my doctor didn’t want to prescribe Tamoxifen unless my husband and I were positive we didn’t want more biological children — it would have caused fetal harm were I to conceive while taking it. And of course, for some women, complete ovary removal clearly limits her choices, but is necessary to stop the growth of hormone receptive tumors.

If you’re young and childless when all this happens, you may feel angry, disappointed, saddened … hopeless. Who could blame you, really? Breast cancer limits your options.

But let me tell you, you do have options. And one of your options is adoption.

The photograph on the right is of me and my daughter three years ago — taken by my husband just minutes after they’d put her in my arms. We’d flown to China to bring her into our family through the miracle of adoption.

Actually, this photo was taken three years ago to the date. July 3, 2005. July 3rd … a day people in the adoption community recognize as ‘Gotcha Day.’ What a blessed day that was for our family. And today, we celebrate that significant milestone in all of our lives. We celebrate adoption as an alternative. we celebrate adoption as a victory in our battle with cancer.

I can tell you, having given birth to two boys before being granted the gift of my daughter, adoption is a wonderful, heartwarming, fulfilling option for anyone whose chances of conceiving are hurt by breast cancer. Of course, you need to feel okay with that choice, your future child needs that from you. Nobody should rule it out, but everybody should sort it out before saying ‘yup, that’s the way to go.’

If you need to sort out this issue for yourself, know first and foremost you are not alone, others have had to make similar choices, of course, and would certainly help you process yours (myself included). I’m hoping you’ll all chime in with comments about your experience in this area. But if you need some assistance straight away, let me give you these links:

• There’s an entire section at breastcancer.org dedicated to the topic of fertility, pregnancy and adoption that you should check out.

• Here’s a link to an article originally appearing in a Living Beyond Breast Cancer newsletter about adoption as an option after breast cancer.

• WebMD has article on protecting your fertility in the event of breast cancer.

Has fertility been an issue in your life with cancer? Have you sorted it out or discovered a solution? Please share … your experience might help others facing similar circumstances!

(Image: Karen Lynch)

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POSTED IN: Children and breast cancer, Resources, Support