Will cervical cancer lower the chance of getting pregnant?

Unfortunately, after most treatment for cervical cancer, you cannot get pregnant. This can be very distressing and occurs if you -have your womb removed (a hysterectomy) -have radiotherapy that stops your ovaries working If you have very early cervical cancer and want to become pregnant after your treatment, you may be able to have a cone biopsy or LLETZ. With these treatments your womb is not removed, and so you could still get pregnant. When deciding on treatment, your doctor will take into account your wishes to become pregnant in the future. But it will only be safe to have a cone biopsy or LLETZ if the cancer is so early that it can be completely removed. There may be a small increase in risk of early delivery of the baby (premature birth) after these treatments. This may depend on the amount of cervical tissue that is taken away. Another option is called a trachelectomy. Not everyone can have this type of treatment. It can only be done if you have a very early cervical cancer - no more than a small stage 1 cancer. Most of the cervix is removed, together with the upper part of the vagina. The womb and the upper opening of the cervix (where it joins onto the womb) are left behind and rejoined to the vagina. Your vagina will be shortened by this type of surgery. If your surgeon finds you have a stage 1A2 or 1B cervical cancer, they will want to remove some of your lymph nodes as well as the cancer. This is to check that no cancer cells have broken away from the cancer and lodged in the lymph nodes around the womb. If there are, and these are not treated, the cancer is likely to come back. With a stage 1 cancer, there is only a small risk of the cancer spreading to the lymph nodes. But if any of your lymph nodes are found to contain cancer cells, your specialist is likely to recommend radiotherapy. Unfortunately, radiotherapy will make you infertile and so you will not be able to have children even after the trachelectomy.