This Nonprofit Advocates for Fertility Treatment for People with Cancer

Infertility can be a side effect of cancer treatment. Chick Mission helps people freeze their eggs before treatment and advocates for greater awareness.

When Amanda Rice received a diagnosis of breast cancer three times in her 30s, she never expected the treatment that would save her life might also negatively affect her fertility.

“It was a shock to hear that infertility was a potential side effect,” she said. “It wasn’t a guaranteed side effect, but there was a high risk.”

Rice began exploring her options for fertility treatments before starting chemo to retrieve and freeze eggs for potential future use. Though she had medical insurance, she discovered it didn’t cover this type of fertility treatment.

“I had insurance benefits, I had fertility benefits, but they skirted around it by saying I didn’t meet the standard definition of infertility,” she said. “That was the heartbreak. I was just like, ‘I don’t understand what’s wrong with this system, that they’re deliberately denying something that could really make my life full after I survive.’”

This heartbreak led Rice to found Chick Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people who’ve experienced cancer preserve their fertility ahead of treatment. The mission also provides public education and government advocacy.

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Fertility education

The mission begins with education. The nonprofit works to educate people with cancer, as well as college-age women, about the basics of fertility — especially what to do if they need treatment that could affect their ability to have children.

Some chemotherapy drugs can affect your ovaries, halting their release of mature eggs along with the production of the hormone estrogen. Radiation treatments to your abdomen also can potentially affect reproductive organs.

“Part of the mission is to make fertility less of an enigma,” Rice said. “It’s to put women on the right footing to make decisions in the future.”

Chick Mission designed its educational outreach to fill in the informational gaps that often occur in traditional sex education.

“As survivors, we had this emergency situation where we weren’t able to think about all of these things, weigh our options, and do all the endless research we’d want to do,” she said. “We had to make decisions pretty quickly, and in my research, I learned that less than half of physicians were warning their patients about potential fertility loss.”

Financial assistance

Chick Mission’s work goes far beyond education. The nonprofit also provides financial support to people facing chemotherapy without insurance coverage or fertility preservation funding.

Partnering with 30 clinics across six states — California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas — Chick Mission offers grants for fertility preservation care that includes egg harvesting and other procedures.

Since the program’s inception in 2018, Chick Mission has supported more than 500 people. The average grant is $7,000 to cover a complete cycle of egg freezing. The grants have saved people more than $6.8 million in medical expenses since 2018.

Chick Mission accelerates the grant application and approval process, with answers generally coming within 24 to 48 hours after submission.

“We know time is of the essence, and [people] need to make a lot of decisions for their treatment, so we don’t want to slow down anything,” she said. “Then, we reimburse the practice so the patient never has to go out of pocket.”

While the program is only available through partner clinics, Rice said Chick Mission is working to expand its network to more states and medical practices.

Creating change

Chick Mission also works to expand fertility preservation care through legislation. The nonprofit collaborates with local activists and state legislators to advance bills mandating fertility care for people with cancer.

They coordinate letter-writing campaigns, testimonies from people who’ve experienced cancer, and other advocacy measures to raise political awareness.

“When I was originally diagnosed, I lived in Connecticut,” said Rice. “I connected with a survivor who was working to change the law. I wrote a letter of support, but I felt like, ‘Does my story matter?’ Eventually, Connecticut was the first state to change its law as it relates to fertility preservation when you’re diagnosed with cancer.”

Rice said this work truly energizes her. She sees it as the key to ensuring that no one else might face the same difficult situation she experienced.

A vision for the future

“Our goal is ultimately to no longer exist because we get this changed in all 50 states, and then a federal bill is passed,” Rice said.

Rice’s vision is that fertility preservation becomes a standard part of cancer treatment for those of reproductive age.

“We want these young adults not to have to make this decision because there are no barriers,” she said.