Pregnant Post Cancer? Erin Andrews’ Story Says Yes

Ten years after beating cervical cancer, sports reporter Erin Andrews is trending again — this time for her continued push to have a second child.

At 48, she opened up about the challenges in an interview with Us Weekly. “I said to my doctor the other day, ‘I’m not done,’” she said. “I’m very, very interested in continuing this whole thing and seeing what I can do.”

Andrews underwent two surgeries after her cervical cancer diagnosis and was declared cancer-free in 2017. She continued her path to motherhood with IVF, which proved unsuccessful, before she and her husband welcomed their son via surrogate in July 2023, at age 44. The family has since suffered a miscarriage during a surrogacy attempt for a second child.

The years since her son’s birth have only narrowed the odds: by the late 40s, the chance of a live birth using one’s own eggs falls to about 1 percent per IVF cycle, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Andrews also had a message for couples facing similar struggles: don’t carry the weight alone. “I’ve told people this: lean on your loved ones, even if they’ve never had to deal with this before. I feel like it’s the best way,” she told Us Weekly, adding that she’s leaned on her own girlfriends throughout the process because “it’s just not good for you” to keep it all in.

Pregnancy after cervical cancer

Pregnancy is often still possible after early-stage cervical cancer. Caught early, the disease can frequently be treated with fertility-sparing surgery that preserves the ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy.

Two options a doctor may recommend:

• Cold knife cone biopsy removes only the portion of the cervix containing the cancer. If the outer edges of the removed tissue are free of cancer cells, no further cervix needs to be removed.
• Radical trachelectomy removes most of the cervix but leaves the rest of the uterus — including the lower uterine segment that connects to it — in place. A cerclage, or reinforcing stitch, is placed to help support a future pregnancy. Patients need close monitoring by an obstetrician experienced with the procedure, since they face a higher risk of certain pregnancy complications and will require a C-section for delivery.

For women who undergo a hysterectomy or receive chemotherapy or radiation, assisted reproductive technology can still make a biological child possible — through egg freezing beforehand, or through IVF paired with a gestational carrier.

Image credit: All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons