Cancer treatments often have side effects and for young women one of the most significant can be reduced fertility.
The main treatments – chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, hormonal therapy and targeted therapy – can affect fertility in different ways.
In many situations, the NHS may provide egg freezing and storage for free, but it can typically take up to three weeks.
If cancer treatment needs to begin immediately there may not be enough time to complete this process.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance advises offering “oocyte (egg cell) or embryo cryopreservation” to women who are “preparing for medical treatment, or who have a medical condition, that is likely to make them infertile”.
Mulheron said she did not have time to freeze her eggs before treatment due to the cancer being very aggressive, but added that 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, which had made it feel like “a postcode lottery” for treatment.