If you have just been diagnosed with cancer and may want children later, you can preserve your fertility before treatment begins. The main options are egg freezing, embryo freezing, sperm banking, and ovarian tissue freezing. For women, the process often takes around two weeks; for men, sperm banking can be done in a day or two, usually before chemotherapy or radiation starts.
Oncofertility is the field that bridges cancer care and reproductive medicine, helping people preserve the ability to have biological children before cancer treatment damages their fertility. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and some surgeries can reduce or end egg and sperm production, so fertility preservation is best discussed at the point of diagnosis rather than after recovery. The table below sets out the established options at a glance.
Survival rates for many cancers in India are rising, which means more young patients live long enough to think about parenthood after recovery. Yet fertility preservation is still often overlooked in the rush to begin treatment. In Gurgaon and Delhi NCR, awareness is growing, but the window to act is short - the conversation needs to happen at diagnosis, not weeks into chemotherapy.
A practical barrier in India is that fertility preservation and oncology are often handled by separate teams at different hospitals. The most successful outcomes come when the two coordinate quickly, so that egg or sperm collection is completed without meaningfully delaying cancer treatment. Some advanced techniques, particularly for pre-pubertal children, are offered at only a handful of centres nationally, which makes early referral to an experienced fertility unit especially important.
The right approach depends on whether you are a woman or a man, how much time there is before treatment, and your age and overall health. Below are the established routes.
Egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation). You take hormone injections for roughly 10-14 days to grow several eggs, which are then collected in a short, sedated procedure and frozen by vitrification. A reassuring development for cancer patients is the random-start protocol - stimulation can begin on almost any day of your menstrual cycle rather than waiting for your next period, which can save one to two crucial weeks.
Embryo freezing. If you have a partner or choose donor sperm, the collected eggs are fertilised in the lab, and the embryos are frozen. Embryos tend to survive thawing slightly better than unfertilised eggs, but this route requires a sperm source and creates embryos jointly - something worth discussing with your partner first.
Ovarian tissue freezing. A piece of ovarian tissue is removed surgically, frozen, and later re-implanted to restore hormone and egg function. It is the only option that needs no ovarian stimulation, so it can be done within days, making it suitable when treatment cannot wait, or for girls who have not yet reached puberty. It is now considered an established (no longer purely experimental) technique internationally, though availability in India is limited to specialist centres.
Ovarian protection during treatment. Where freezing is not possible, doctors may use medication to temporarily quieten the ovaries during chemotherapy, or surgically reposition the ovaries away from the radiation field (ovarian transposition). These reduce risk but do not guarantee fertility, so they are usually combined with, not substituted for, freezing where time allows.
Sperm banking. This is the simplest and fastest method. One or more semen samples are frozen and stored, and the process can typically be completed in a day or two, comfortably before treatment begins. For boys who have not reached puberty, testicular tissue freezing may be offered, but this remains experimental and is available only at select centres.
Not every cancer treatment harms fertility, and the impact varies by drug, dose, radiation site and your age. The main reasons fertility can be affected include:
Acting quickly and in the right order makes the biggest difference. The two priorities are protecting your treatment timeline and getting expert fertility advice in parallel.
Ask your cancer specialist, at the very first opportunity, whether there is room in your timeline for fertility preservation and whether any short delay is safe. Most preservation can be arranged without meaningfully postponing treatment, especially with random-start stimulation for women and same-week sperm banking for men. The earlier this is raised, the more options stay open.
A fertility specialist will assess your ovarian reserve or sperm health, explain which methods suit your situation and timeline, and coordinate directly with your oncology team. If time is extremely limited, they can advise on faster routes such as ovarian tissue freezing or immediate sperm banking.
To begin without delay, book a fertility consultation at a Cloudnine Fertility centre in Gurgaon or Delhi NCR and ask specifically about fertility preservation before cancer treatment. Bringing your diagnosis and proposed treatment dates to that first appointment helps the team plan around your oncology schedule.
If any of the situations below apply, seek a fertility preservation consultation as early as possible - ideally within days of diagnosis.
Speak to a Cloudnine fertility specialist promptly - schedule a fertility preservation consultation before your cancer treatment begins.
Outcomes depend on your age, the method used, and how many eggs, embryos, or sperm are stored. The summary below sets realistic expectations; your specialist will personalise these figures for you.
In terms of cost, fertility preservation in India is broadly comparable to a standard egg-freezing cycle, with figures varying by city, clinic, and the required medication doses. Elective egg freezing is generally not covered by health insurance, although some insurers may offer partial coverage when preservation is medically indicated prior to cancer treatment. Exact pricing should be confirmed directly with the clinic, and instalment options are sometimes available.
