Aaron

Aaron Albanez’s Story

Building a Family as Two Cancer Survivors

When Aaron Albanez thinks about oncofertility, he thinks about what it means to build a family after cancer has touched both partners.

His wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2015. Two years later, Aaron was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

They were both young. They were both facing cancer. But their diagnoses, treatments, and fertility risks were very different.

For Aaron, testicular cancer created an immediate and permanent fertility issue. His care team quickly brought up sperm banking because his treatment path would directly affect his ability to have biological children.

His wife’s thyroid cancer treatment did not carry the same fertility risk profile. But her cancer history still became part of their family-building journey later, especially as they moved through IVF and pregnancy.

Together, their experiences showed Aaron how complicated parenthood after cancer can become, even when the path looks different for each survivor.

An Unbreakable Bond Strong Enough to Survive Devastating Diagnoses

Aaron and his wife have known each other since sixth grade. They met through a mutual friend in middle school and began dating during their junior year of high school. By the time cancer touched their lives for the first time, their years together had forged a strong bond, which was uncommon for a couple that young.

Following his wife’s thyroid cancer diagnosis, she had surgery and radioactive iodine treatment. Aaron was by her side, joining conversations with doctors about her treatment and what would come next.

Then came Aaron’s diagnosis: testicular cancer. With both testicles impacted, Aaron’s care team had to move not only quickly but carefully. One was completely full of cancer cells, with no normal tissue left. The other had severe enough damage that it also needed to be removed.

Seemingly overnight, fertility preservation became an urgent conversation. His care team strongly recommended he bank sperm after the first surgery and before the second, which took place a few months later. He did.

Following both surgeries, Aaron was cancer-free.

IVF, the Only Path Forward

Because of Aaron’s cancer surgeries, natural conception was never going to be an option for him and his wife.

When they decided to pursue parenthood, IVF became their path. But their journey was shaped by both of their cancer histories, something they didn’t realize at the time.

Aaron’s cancer-related fertility complications had been discussed immediately. His wife’s thyroid cancer history became more relevant later, as they moved through IVF and pregnancy.

For Aaron, that difference made him think more deeply about how family-building conversations happen after cancer. Even when fertility preservation is not clearly indicated, young patients may still need guidance about timing, medications, follow-up care, and what treatment could mean for future pregnancy.

For example, careful follow-ups were needed with his wife’s endocrinologist to ensure her thyroid medication was at the correct dose. Even a slight miscalculation could have led to high-stakes complications through a fertility treatment process that was already equal parts taxing to their mental health and their bank account.

The Cost, the Grant, and the Hope

The financial burden was severe enough that Aaron’s mom helped him and his wife research different options. They decided to work with a financial coordinator, who connected them with organizations that offer IVF grants. Worth the Wait was one of them.

They applied for and received a grant that helped support their IVF treatments.

Aaron and his wife know how fortunate they were. IVF does not work for everyone, and it often takes more than one try.

For them, a single IVF cycle and one embryo transfer led to the outcome they had hoped for. In spring 2026, they welcomed their daughter.

After everything cancer had changed, her arrival became a living reminder of what oncofertility can make possible.

The Moment Everything Was Worth It

Aaron still feels the reminders of cancer.

His wife takes thyroid medication. Aaron gives himself weekly testosterone injections as part of hormone replacement therapy. Even now, watching others announce pregnancies can stir complicated emotions in him, because for many cancer survivors and patients, the path to pregnancy is far from simple.

Aaron and his wife had to find an IVF clinic they trusted. Then, they had to make sure that the center was connected with their healthcare team. After that, they had to gather the funds. And finally, they had to assemble all of the information about both of their cancer histories.

It was an exhausting process cancer had forced upon them. And then their daughter arrived, a world-changing moment.

A Natural Health Advocate

Aaron has been living with type 1 diabetes since childhood. Today, he works as a diabetes educator, helping people understand a condition that demands constant attention. That experience shapes the way he talks about cancer, infertility, and advocacy.

When he was younger, diabetes felt isolating because he didn’t know anyone else like him. That changed when he attended a diabetes camp and met other people living with the same condition.

Now, Aaron brings that same philosophy to oncofertility.

Like his childhood attendance at a diabetes camp, an invitation to speak at an oncofertility conference opened the door into another world. It was one that allowed him to share his deeply personal experience, including the hope that all is not lost for family building following a cancer diagnosis.

He realized if even one person feels less alone, the fear, the frustration, the cost, the uncertainty…and the hope someone may find something they can hold onto is worth it.

Alongside Worth the Wait, Aaron hopes his story can help others understand that cancer may change the path to parenthood, but shouldn’t erase it. By advocating for oncofertility to become a two-way conversation between patients and care teams, regardless of cancer type, he believes that more couples can live with hope for a future family, in spite of a devastating diagnosis.