Most radiotherapy treatment has no effect on your ability to have children, unless the ovaries are included in the radiotherapy treatment area.

Many healthy babies have been born to parents who have had radiotherapy, and the risk of having an abnormal baby is not increased if you have had treatment in the past. Many specialists recommend that women wait for about two years after having radiotherapy before trying to get pregnant, to give the body a chance to get over the effects of the cancer and its treatment.

If treatment is given for cancer of the cervix or ovary and included the ovaries, temporary or permanent infertility is likely. This can be very difficult to come to terms with.

In men, sperm production can be reduced if the testicles are in the area being treated, and this can lead to temporary or permanent infertility. Fortunately, it is usually possible to avoid giving radiotherapy to the testicles as part of treatment for the cancers that are most common in younger men. Radiotherapy for prostate or bladder cancers is likely to cause permanently low sperm counts.

Before you have radiotherapy, your specialist should discuss with you the possibility that it may lead to infertility, and will normally ask you to sign a form consenting to treatment. Understandably, this can be a traumatic time, particularly for young people who were planning to have children. If you have a partner, they will be encouraged to join in this meeting, giving both of you a chance to discuss any worries you may have, and talk them through.

Sometimes, it may be possible for men to store sperm before they have their radiotherapy. The sperm are frozen and can be stored for several years until the couple are ready to have children. This is known as sperm banking.

Before treatment starts women may be able to store fertilised eggs (embryos) using sperm from a partner. It can take between 4–6 weeks to collect the eggs and won’t be possible if treatment needs to start straightaway. It is now sometimes possible to store a woman's unfertilised eggs as well, although this is still at a very early, experimental stage and the service is not widely available.  

See also our fertility and cancer section.

Even if your treatment is likely to make you infertile, you may be strongly advised to use a reliable form of birth control. If pregnancy occurs during or shortly after radiotherapy, there may be a possibility of damage to the baby.

It is not easy to come to terms with the prospect of infertility, or any of the side effects of your treatment. It will take a while for you to sort out your emotions and be able to talk about them. When you are ready, it may help you to talk openly to your partner or a friend about these feelings. If they can understand how you feel it will probably be easier for them to offer help and support.

Some people prefer to talk to someone they don't know. Support groups offer you the chance to talk to other people who have been through a similar experience. Another possibility is to talk things over with a counsellor. Your hospital may offer a counselling service or, alternatively our cancer support service can tell you how to contact a counsellor.