Hope Award for Advocacy Recipient
The Alliance for Fertility Preservation (AFP) is a 501c3 charitable organization. Their mission is to increase information, resources, and access to fertility preservation for cancer patients and the healthcare professionals who treat them.
The Alliance is run by a team of professionals who have come together to advance the field of fertility preservation. Board Members are recognized leaders with expertise in all aspects of fertility preservation including, oncology, reproductive endocrinology, urology, psychology, oncology nursing, and reproductive law.
Their focus is fertility preservation for cancer patients because they understand how overwhelming a cancer diagnosis can be. So many aspects of an individual's life are altered the moment they hear those words, "You have cancer." And while many organizations address various facets of cancer treatment, the AFP is uniquely positioned to help alleviate one of the most distressing, life-altering consequences of cancer treatment - infertility.
Because patients must undergo sperm, egg, and embryo banking very quickly before starting their cancer treatment, the high cost of these services can be prohibitive. The primary way this barrier can be overcome is establishing insurance coverage. Over the past several years, the AFP has, along with RESOLVE (and others), founded the Building Families Coalition and the Coalition to Protect Parenthood After Cancer to fight for this coverage across the country. By locking arms with RESOLVE and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, along with industry supporters, they have been instrumental in bringing fertility preservation coverage to approximately 40 million people through legislation in 12 states and federal employees.