Mike

Mike Scherer’s Story

Why Are We Saving Lives?

Mike Scherer has heard doctors say their first job is to save a cancer patient’s life.

He agrees. But after surviving testicular cancer, facing infertility, and helping other survivors through Worth the Wait Charity, Mike now asks a deeper question:

“Why are we saving lives if we are not helping people live them?”

For Mike and his wife, Megan, that question is deeply personal. It began with a cancer diagnosis at 26, a recommendation to bank sperm before treatment, and a family-building journey that would eventually become the mission behind Worth the Wait Charity.

A Young Marriage Interrupted by Cancer

Mike and Megan were 23 when they got married. Three years later, Mike was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

At the time, starting a family was not top of mind. Survival was.

Mike was officially diagnosed in 2011. His symptoms had been building for months, including intermittent testicular pain and chest pain.

After seeking a medical opinion, an ultrasound revealed a tumor in his right testicle, and bloodwork confirmed tumor markers pointing to an aggressive form of testicular cancer called non-seminoma.

Mike had surgery and chemotherapy before being declared cancer-free the following year.

During that time, Megan became his caregiver. Together, they focused on getting through treatment and finding their way back to a “normal” life, before the cancer, something that many aspire to, but find is seldom the case.

The Conversation That Preserved an Option

Mike says his oncofertility story started the day he was diagnosed, even though he did not have the language for it yet.

His doctor advised him to bank sperm.

The discussion wasn’t long because family planning wasn’t top of mind. But the message was clear enough: the treatment Mike was about to receive could affect his fertility, and sperm banking could preserve an option they might need later.

Mike understood the basic reason. But he did not fully understand how important that decision would become.

In fact, Mike says if he had been making the decision alone, he probably would not have banked sperm. However, because he was married and there was discussion on having a family someday, he and Megan made that decision together.

He had no idea how important that one decision would come to be, because not every young adult facing cancer has a partner sitting beside them. Not every patient has someone helping them think beyond the immediate fear of diagnosis and treatment.

For Mike, that is part of the inequity in oncofertility care. Fertility preservation cannot fall into place by chance. He believes that patients should not have to be lucky enough to have the right doctor, the right partner, or the right timing.

When Cancer Was Over, Infertility Began

After treatment, Mike and Megan worked hard to feel like life was finally moving forward again.

About two years after Mike was cancer-free, they decided to try to start a family. That is when their fertility journey began.

They tried on their own first, and it was an emotional struggle that sent them into a world of “endless appointments, fertility treatments, unanswered questions, and uncertainty.”

What made the process even harder was the cost. Mike says one of the biggest reasons he and Megan started Worth the Wait was the lack of personal insurance coverage. Fertility treatments became a 100% out-of-pocket expense, adding another layer of financial toxicity to life after cancer.

After seven intrauterine insemination treatments, Mike and Megan learned they were expecting, and their son Elliot was born. Becoming a father gave Mike a deeper understanding of what fertility preservation can make possible, and he made a fleeting decision years ago to bank sperm, which seemed unimportant to the realities of the present, one of the most important decisions he had made in his young life.

From Personal Experience to Purpose

Mike and Megan began talking about how they could give back.

At first, they considered supporting other nonprofits. But after reflecting on their own experiences, what stood out to them most was a deeply personal gap widely overlooked. Cancer survivors who wanted to become parents (even if they didn’t know it at the time of diagnosis) were often left to navigate challenges on their own.

They believed they could do something more personal for survivors facing fertility issues after cancer.

In June 2021, Mike and Megan founded Worth the Wait.

What began with their own experience has grown into a nonprofit dedicated to supporting young adult cancer survivors navigating fertility preservation and family-building after cancer. The organization provides support for paths that may include fertility preservation before treatment and infertility treatments, adoption, and surrogacy after treatment.

Mike says this work is not only about helping people have children, but it’s also about helping survivors reclaim the future that cancer threatened to take away.

The Survivorship People Deserve

Mike wants people to understand that cancer survivorship is layered.

Cancer is rarely over the day treatment ends. A survivor can work hard to rebuild a normal life, only to be thrown years later back into grief, anger, isolation, or uncertainty because of what cancer may have taken from them.

For some survivors, that loss is the possibility of becoming a parent.

Mike sees oncofertility as a common-sense issue. If life-saving treatment affects someone’s ability to have children, then fertility preservation and family-building support should not be treated as optional luxuries. They should be part of the conversation from the beginning.

He also believes the conversation cannot be a one-time checkbox. Doctors, hospitals, caregivers, policymakers, and survivors all play a role in ensuring young adults understand their options.

And for survivors who are already in the middle of infertility after cancer, Mike’s message is simple: you are not alone.

Infertility after cancer can feel isolating. It can feel hopeless. It can feel like hearing “it didn’t work” over and over again with no clear path forward. But Mike wants survivors to know that others have been there too. There may still be options. There is support. There is hope.

Mike’s story is a reminder that survivorship should mean more than being alive. It should mean having the chance to live the life you fought for during treatment.