Abstract
Study Objective
To measure parental attitudes toward fertility preservation (FP) in female adolescent
cancer patients in a Middle Eastern country to understand barriers to decision-making
and decisional conflicts.
Design and Setting
A questionnaire was distributed to parents of all female adolescents at a tertiary
care center from February 2018 to September 2018.
Participants
A total of 70 families.
Interventions
None.
Main Outcome Measures
Parental attitudes toward FP.
Results
The educational level of parents was associated with the knowledge about the side
effects of treatment (P < .001). FP options were not offered to parents in 60/70 (85.6%) of cases. Oocyte
cryopreservation was an acceptable option for 23/70 (32.9%) of interviewed parents
who agreed on collecting the oocytes using vaginal ultrasound. The fear of disrupting
the hymen was the main reason for disapproval in 20/70 (28.6%) of cases. The religious
preference of the family was a significant factor in the acceptance of vaginal ultrasound
and vaginal oocyte retrieval. The educational level of parents, the monthly income,
and the current employment status were not linearly associated with their acceptance
to approve their daughters’ undergoing oocyte cryopreservation through the vaginal
route (χ2 = 100.651; P < .001).
Conclusion
Parents are not aware of the effect of cancer treatment on future fertility of their
daughters. Ethical, social, and religious barriers affect the decision-making for
FP. However, a major interest exists among parents for FP, highlighting the importance
of development of an oncofertility program, involving a multidisciplinary team to
initiate proper counseling and guidance.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 17, 2019
Footnotes
The authors indicate no conflicts of interest.
Dalia R. Khalife and William Kutteh contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc.
