Fertility and chemotherapy
Some chemotherapy drugs can affect a man’s fertility. Talk to your doctor about your risk of infertility. They can tell you more about the possibility of storing sperm.
Being infertile means you cannot have children.
Not all chemotherapy drugs affect your ability to get someone pregnant. But some drugs can:
reduce the number of sperm you produce
affect the sperm's ability to fertilise an egg
affect the production of the hormone testosterone
The infertility may be temporary or permanent. It depends on the drugs you have, the doses and your age. Permanent infertility is more likely if you have higher doses of chemotherapy.
Some chemotherapy drugs can affect the nerves in the genital area. This can make it difficult for you to get or maintain an erection. This is usually temporary and gradually gets better once the treatment has finished.
Most men can still get an erection and have an orgasm as they did before treatment. Chemotherapy doesn't usually have any permanent effect on your sexual performance or your enjoyment of sex.
Sperm banking means collecting and storing your sperm. You can then use the sperm later to have a baby through fertility treatment.
It’s important to talk to your doctor about the risk of infertility before you start chemotherapy. You can then make decisions about whether to use a sperm bank.
You need to store your sperm before starting treatment if there is a risk that treatment will affect your fertility.
You have tests first for infections such as hepatitis and HIV. You can still bank your sperm if you have one of these infections, but it will be stored differently.
You should avoid having sex for at least 2 days before your sperm banking appointment. You might need to produce several samples of sperm. These are frozen and stored.
A specialist clinic can store your sperm for many years. The clinic will contact you every 10 years to check you still want it kept. It is important to let them know if your details change.
When you and your partner want a baby, the clinic specialists thaw the samples. They then use them to inseminate your partner. Inseminate means putting your sperm into your partner to start a pregnancy. Many people have had healthy babies after fertility treatment following chemotherapy.
Sometimes it isn’t possible for you to bank sperm. This could be because the cancer has made your sperm count very low. Or sometimes your doctor may want to start treatment very quickly. In this case it may not be possible to store sperm or to store only one sample.
Sperm banking is not always available on the NHS and there may be a charge.
If chemotherapy has made you infertile, it can be difficult to tell whether this is permanent or not. Some men will stay infertile. Others find their sperm returns to normal and their fertility comes back.
It can take a few months or sometimes years for fertility to return to normal. To check your fertility, your doctor can do regular sperm counts for you when your treatment is over.
It can be very difficult to learn that you may no longer be able to have children. There is support available to help you cope.
Read more about coping with infertility
That Cancer Conversation is Cancer Research UK's podcast. In the episode exploring infertility and cancer, we chat with people whose cancer journey has had an impact on their fertility.
It also features Professor Richard Anderson, Deputy Director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Reproductive Health. We explore options that are available and what the future of fertility medicine could look like.
Last reviewed: 09 Jan 2024
Next review due: 08 Jan 2027
It can be very difficult to learn that chemotherapy has affected your ability to have children (fertility). You can get support to help you cope.
Chemotherapy can affect a woman’s fertility. There are treatments that might be able to help. If you're pregnant at diagnosis, talk to your doctor.
Some cancer treatments might affect your fertility. Sperm banking is a way of storing your sperm for use in later fertility treatment.
Chemotherapy can sometimes affect your sex life. It can affect men and women differently. It's important to avoid pregnancy while you're having chemo.
Chemotherapy might affect your everyday life, from the way you feel to socialising and holidays. You can get tips and support to help you cope.
Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for some types of cancer. It uses anti cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells.
About Cancer generously supported by Dangoor Education since 2010. Learn more about Dangoor Education
What to ask your doctor about clinical trials.
Meet and chat to other cancer people affected by cancer.
Questions about cancer? Call freephone 0808 800 40 40 from 9 to 5 - Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can email us.
