UC San Diego

Purpose

We compared adoption consideration between female young adult cancer survivors and women of the same age in the general US population, hypothesizing that cancer survivors who desired children would report greater interest in adoption than an age-adjusted general population sample who desired children.

Methods

After age-standardizing the cancer survivor cohort to match the age distribution of the 2006-2010 National Survey for Family Growth (NSFG), we estimated adoption consideration among women age 18-35 years who wanted a (another) child in the two cohorts overall and within age groups. We assessed characteristics and concerns related to adoption consideration among cancer survivors.

Results

Among cancer survivors, 81.6 % (95 % CI 75.7-87.6) reported that they would consider adoption compared to 40.3 % (95 % CI 40.3-40.3) of women in the general population. While over 80 % of the cancer survivor sample reported that they would consider adoption, only 15 % of cancer survivors reported no concerns about adoption. The most common concerns were desire for a biological child (48 %), expense (45 %), adoption agency candidacy (41 %), and needing more information (39 %).

Conclusion

We observed a twofold higher interest in adoption when comparing the cancer survivor with the general population, suggesting that adoption is a consideration for many young women who have survived cancer.

Implications for cancer survivors

Adoption is an important family-building option for those who want to have a child but are unable to or choose not to have a biological child. However, young adult survivors may need more support to understand and navigate this process.