Fertility Desire in Women with Breast Cancer in Ardabil City

Background: Fertility is one of the important challenges of women with breast cancer.The incidence of breast cancer among women aged 20 to 49 is gradually increasing, and at the same time, there is evidence that the age of first pregnancy is also increasing, and this requires attention to these issues.Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the fertility desire in women with breast cancer in Ardabil in 2024.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on women with breast cancer in Ardabil city using a census method.After obtaining the code of ethics and receiving an introduction letter and informed consent from the participants, data were collected using a demographic information questionnaire and a specific fertility desire questionnaire for women with breast cancer.Data analysis was performed using SPSS software using descriptive and analytical statistics.Results: Data from 180 breast cancer patients were analyzed.The mean fertility desire was 37.86 11.86, which was significantly lower than the criterion value (45) (p<0.001).The mean score of the disease control dimension was 17.81, which was significantly higher than the criterion value ( 14).The scores of the pregnancy risk, social support, and happiness dimensions were significantly lower than the criterion value (p<0.001).There was a significant relationship between the number of children and the method of adjuvant therapy with fertility desire (p<0.01 and p<0.04, respectively).Conclusion: Fertility desire in women with breast cancer was low.The reason for the low desire to be fertile was related to the low disease control, social support, and happiness in patients, while it was not related to the risk of the disease.There was a relationship between the desire to be fertile with the treatment method and the number of children and age.The desire to be fertile was higher in women who used chemotherapy alone than in women treated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.Also, the desire to be fertile was higher in women with fewer children than in women with more children, and also women with younger age had a higher desire to become pregnant.The study results showed that young women with breast cancer need more attention regarding disease control, social support, and happiness.