Fertility care access for cancer survivors
Official title: Access to Fertility Specialty Care Among Cancer Survivors
Funded at University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr · NIH-11248793 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at who can get fertility-preserving treatments and assisted reproductive care after cancer and whether broader access helps survivors have children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | June 28, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $497,133 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MD017999-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11248793 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are reproductive-age cancer survivors diagnosed before completing childbearing who are interested in fertility preservation or assisted reproductive treatment now or in the future.
✕Less likely to help
People unlikely to benefit include those who are past reproductive age or for whom pregnancy is medically unsafe after treatment.
What this research studies
If you've had cancer and want children, researchers will examine how often survivors get fertility preservation and assisted reproductive technologies (like IVF) and what barriers they face. They will link cancer records, ART clinic data, and birth records to study how individual factors, neighborhood conditions, and state policies (such as insurance mandates) affect access and live birth outcomes. The team will compare groups by age, race/ethnicity, insurance status, and geography — including rural and Alaska Native communities — to find patterns in who can afford or reach fertility care. They will use those findings to model whether expanding insurance coverage or clinic access would help more survivors become parents.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to policy and access changes that help more cancer survivors preserve fertility and achieve pregnancy.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work shows insurance mandates and targeted programs can raise use of fertility services, but applying these approaches specifically to cancer survivors across diverse states and communities is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rauh-Hain, Jose Alejandro — University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
- Study coordinator: Rauh-Hain, Jose Alejandro
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.