Cancer survivor's battle for fertility funding

A woman with blonde hair smiles at the camera. She is sitting on a white hospital bed wearing a pale pink top and giving a thumbs-up while connected to an IV drip in one arm. The room has grey walls, white bedding, a green hospital chair and medical equipment beside the bed, with a wooden bedside cabinet holding a water bottle and personal items.

Image source, Mollie MulheronImage caption,

Mollie Mulheron is campaigning for the NHS to protect fertility after chemotherapy

BySumaiya MotaraNorth West

Published49 minutes ago

A woman from Lancashire who had stage four blood cancer said she is fighting for NHS-funded fertility preservation treatment.

Mollie Mulheron, 28, said she was unable to freeze her eggs before chemotherapy because her cancer was so aggressive she needed urgent treatment.

Although she has since recovered and is cancer-free, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board said it would not fund egg freezing because she does not meet its eligibility criteria.

Mollie said: "It's clearly unfair because the funding is there before chemotherapy, so it doesn't make sense that it's not available now."

Mollie, who lives in Padiham, was travelling in the Galapagos Islands after university when she said she started to feel ill.

After travelling back home to get checked out, doctors found a melon-sized tumour, which was "crushing my heart and left lung," Mollie said.

It took approximately 800 hours of chemotherapy, over 150 days, for Mollie to be cancer-free.

"It was hell, but I did manage to beat it," said Mollie, who runs a language academy in Lancashire.

A woman looks at the camera, smiling. Behind her is a blue sign with an illustration of flags and a rocket. The text says Lancashire Language Academy.

Image source, Mollie MulheronImage caption,

Mollie is now cancer-free, after having a melon-sized tumour removed.

But because the cancer was so aggressive, she said she did not have time to freeze her eggs before treatment.

Chemotherapy can affect fertility, so some cancer patients are offered fertility preservation beforehand.

Mollie said doctors at St James's Hospital in Leeds told her she could access fertility preservation after chemotherapy.

However, after moving to Padiham, she said she was told funding was not available.

"It does seem to be a postcode lottery that some places allow it and other postcodes don't at all," she said.

'Early menopause'

Mollie has started an online petition calling for better protection of young cancer survivors' fertility and to address what she says is an NHS funding gap after chemotherapy.

Mollie said her ovarian reserve had more than halved in a year and she had been told she was likely to go through an early menopause.

She fears that without fertility preservation treatment she may not be able to have children in the future.

The 28-year-old said she was struggling with the prospect of losing that option, particularly as she did not want to feel pressured into starting a family immediately after recovering from cancer.

"I'd like to have some time after having cancer just to rebuild my life," she said.

Updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance says healthcare professionals should discuss fertility preservation with people whose medical condition or treatment is likely to affect their fertility.

Mollie said the guidance was not mandatory and could be interpreted differently by local NHS bodies, creating inconsistencies in access to treatment.

She said the process had left her feeling frustrated and trapped in a cycle of uncertainty.

"It's just kind of going around in circles, it feels like, and it's just so unfair," she said.

Image source, Mollie MulheronImage caption,

Mollie says she campaigned at Parliament to change fertility guidelines

A spokesperson for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board said: "We are aware of the case and understand the patient's concerns, however, decisions such as this one are in line with the current eligibility criteria of the Assisted Conception policy for Lancashire and South Cumbria.

"Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on specific details of individual cases.

"Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB is currently working collaboratively with Greater Manchester and Cheshire and Merseyside ICBs to review a number of clinical commissioning policies, and assisted conception services have been identified as a priority, particularly in light of updated national guidance.

"The ICB would welcome any review of national policy that gives due consideration to the needs of all patients."