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Sharing hope: Preserving fertility through partnership.

69 Background: Each year about 70,000 individuals aged 15-39 are diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, essential cancer treatments often negatively impact an individual's fertility. The average cost of fertility preservation ranges upwards of $12,000 for women and $1,500 for men and most insurance companies typically do not cover pre-treatment fertility preservation. Not only do these individuals experience a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, they are also faced with the possibility of not having children of their own in the future. The LIVESTRONG Foundation's Fertile Hope Program provides educational information and timely pre-treatment financial assistance to cancer survivors whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility. Female participants receive the medication at no cost through the Foundation's partnership with EMD Serono, and all survivors can receive at least a 25% discount, on preservation services at the more than 350 partnering fertility clinics.


METHODS
LIVESTRONG Navigators implementing this program track all interactions on an ongoing basis. Additionally, in 2012, clients who had been approved for the program within the last 12 months and those who had been approved two or more years ago received an online survey (N=200 and 105 respondents respectively).


RESULTS
In 2012, 3,353 individuals (1,537 men and 1,816 women) saved a total of $12,542,114 through this program. Survey respondents indicated that they value the speed of the process and the opportunity to preserve their fertility. Interestingly, respondents noted that they learned about the program through a reproductive doctor, but they learned about fertility-related issues through an oncologist. Finally, respondents indicated that 14 babies have been born as a result of this program.


CONCLUSIONS
This program has made a unique and measurable change to improve the quality of life of survivors. By providing information and support as well as reducing costs, survivors have the potential to fulfill their aspirations to bear a biological child. Ensuring that providers who share information about fertility-related issues are informed about these types of programs could help to ensure all interested survivors have access to discounted, timely fertility preservation.