Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has shared possible fertility issues amid her cancer battle in her new documentary.
The star’s BBC film Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me aired yesterday evening (August 26), following her journey after being diagnosed with cancer last year.
In one sequence, Amy and her husband Ben open up about how cancer has affected plans to start a family.
Related: Amy Dowden reveals new cancer scare threatened Strictly return
“I just said, ‘What about starting a family?’, because this is something Ben and I were about to begin,” she explains.
“And he [the doctor] said to me, because chemo destroys your eggs, there's a possibility it might cause fertility issues. And then he said, when I finally do chemo I'll need to look at fertility treatment to save my eggs.
What to Read Next
“So obviously that was a big blow then. You’ve got two blows...,” Amy continues as she tears up. “You've got the blow of cancer and then the fertility issue.”
Related: Amy Dowden reveals she originally turned down Strictly
"Amy really wants children and she was actually ready for them now,” Ben admits. “Obviously I want to have kids as well, so it's difficult.”
The film then sees the couple speak to the specialist, who explains that some chemotherapy drugs can impact eggs, and that “some patients never have restoration of their function within their ovaries”.
He tells Amy that they will give her a series of injections to grow the follicles inside her ovaries and then she will undergo an egg collection procedure, before attempting to create embryos and then store those.
The specialist explains that fertility preservation “isn’t always successful” and that he needs “to make sure patients are aware of the fact that it may not work”.
Related: Strictly's Amy Dowden reveals what she "cried most over" after cancer diagnosis
The documentary then shows Amy’s short window of fertility treatment ahead of chemotherapy, with friends stepping in to help her with her daily injections.
Amy admits that those weeks were a “massive, massive struggle” for her, adding: “It’s only when that chance of having children is suddenly taken away from you that you realise just how much you want them.”
Calling the six days of waiting for the results “the longest days” of her life, Amy thankfully receives the happy news that they have managed to freeze five embryos.
“That was an absolutely amazing moment and it was just a bit of sunlight in a dark place,” Ben explains.
“The relief was just immense,” Amy adds. “I needed to have a shot at something no matter what at that time. I just needed that little bit of hope.”
Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me is streaming now on BBC iPlayer. Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Interested in talking about Strictly? Visit our dedicated sub-forum
Read more Strictly news on our dedicated homepage
If you would like more information or support about living with cancer or treatment, please click here for guidance from Macmillan Cancer Support, or click here to learn more from Stand Up to Cancer.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
