The experience of sperm donation in young adult men with cancer.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An interpretative phenomenological analysis study into the lived experience of young adult men who have undergone fertility preservation by sperm donation following a diagnosis of cancer
IRAS ID
247819
Contact name
Samuel White
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 26 days
Research summary
What is the lived experience of young adult men who have undergone fertility preservation by sperm donation following a diagnosis of cancer?
Little is known about the impact that fertility preservation treatment has on adjustment to a diagnosis of cancer in adolescence or young adulthood in men. Research suggests that successfully donating sperm after a diagnosis in adults can help with adjustment by giving hope for the future. It is unclear whether this is true for adolescents/younger adults when future planning may not have been considered before the diagnosis. The current study would seek to improve our knowledge of how young men think about sperm donation and its impact on adjustment, which would help to inform clinical practice around how fertility preservation is discussed.
The study will recruit participants from the local teenage and young adults oncology service and interviews will mostly be undertaken in clinic settings. Participants will be young adult men aged 16 to 25 at interview who have undergone fertility preservation treatment via sperm donation by ejaculation following a cancer diagnosis in the previous 3 years and were able to produce a viable sample. Men who declined or were unable to produce a sample will not be included in the current study, nor will those who have received a terminal diagnosis. This is not because the experience of these groups would not be valuable, instead that they would likely have significantly different experiences and be better researched separately in their own right.
Participants will be identified by their oncologist or nurse and invited to opt-in. Those willing to proceed will be invited to a one-off semi-structured interview of 60-90 minutes’ duration. Broad topics such as conversations regarding fertility and sperm donation, meaning of sperm donation and its role in adjusting to life after treatment will be discussed.REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1697
Date of REC Opinion
22 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion