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Oncofertility: beyond biological motherhood, towards reproductive justice

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Abstract

The field of oncofertility -- a word that combines the terms oncology (the study of cancer) and fertility (the capacity to produce offspring) -- has done much to put reproductive health on the international cancer agenda and to expand fertility options for cancer survivors. Before the field took hold, women’s reproductive concerns were ignored or disregarded as secondary to cancer treatment. However, the field's exclusive focus on helping women to become mothers post-cancer may have inadvertently (re)created constraining norms surrounding women's reproductive health. It also masks at least two societal forces contributing to the cancer/infertility equation. I propose moving beyond an emphasis on biological reproduction towards a more inclusive redefinition of oncofertility that links motherhood to wider struggles for reproductive justice.