Table 2.

Negative and Positive Effects of Cancer on Romantic Relationships

(1) Negative effects of cancer on romantic relationships (60%; n = 24)
(1.1) Fertility-related concerns	(1.2) Physical Insecurities	(1.3) Feeling emotionally guarded	(1.4) Delayed dating
“I am infertile…sometimes I feel like it hinders especially in the past I was actually married before. I think a lot of it influenced why we got divorced…because he wanted kids and of course I love kids but I cannot have them.” (27-year-old-female, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 8)	“I'm considered postmenopausal, so it's hard to be intimate with somebody that isn't interested.” (27-year-old female, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 8)	“…maybe you don't get as close as fast as some others.” (27-year-old female, diagnosed with leukemia at age 11)	“I was almost 18 so timing-wise, it took a year or two away from my ability to date… I was kind of behind things where all of my college friends had serious relationships at the end of high school and beginning of college. It was later before I had a serious relationship.” (36-year-old female, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 16)
“My only concern was fertility in the beginning [of starting to date], because I didn't know whether we would be able to have kids or not.” (31-year-old female, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 10)	“I started having issues with erections. I went to a urologist, and they never got to the bottom of what the issue was. So I was always kind of self-conscious. I didn't want to get into a relationship and then that be an issue. So it was always in the back of my mind to not get into a relationship or get romantically involved with anyone.” (35-year-old male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 14)	“It's affecting my dating life slightly negative, because it's a big event…it's something I'm reluctant to share with someone romantically.” (24-year-old male, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 10)	“I was diagnosed at 15, which is a time when you're starting to explore having relationships. So when I was diagnosed in my high school years, it took that opportunity away from me since I was dealing with other things instead of the typical things that you would normally experience in high school.” (28-year-old female, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 15)
“It is…on the devastating side to know that you're not able to bring somebody into the world yourself… you have that in the back of your head. Would somebody really be willing to be in a relationship with somebody that can't do that?” (32-year-old female, diagnosed with germinoma at age 9)	“Having the scars, having all that and explaining all that with somebody new, it's not any easy way to casually bring that up. So there's anxiety and stress leading up to that conversation.” (27-year-old male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 10)	“Well I guess in a negative way that this impacted me is just that I've felt that if whoever I'm interested in dating didn't know about my history, that I was in some way lying to them or not really being truthful about who I am.” (27-year-old male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 17)	“My tumor happened when I was 15 and 16 and so that was obviously probably a prime time where most people are starting to do adult dating and relationships, and so I was probably lagging behind a little bit.” (34-year-old male, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 15)
“In previous relationships [infertility] has been an issue…it was one of the factors that we discontinued our relationship.” (27-year-old-male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 17)

(2) Positive effects of cancer on romantic relationships (55%; n = 22)
(2.1) Creating new perspectives	(2.2) Increased maturity	(2.3) Stronger bonds with partners
“I don't take anything for granted. I always make decisions…with my wife or with my romantic life as if the cancer could come back tomorrow.” (42-year-old-male, diagnosed with leukemia at age 5)	“…we didn't have those high school relationships and high school conversations but we also had more of adult conversations, like “Oh if I don't survive this…” So I guess it's just like a deeper level than just high school, you know boyfriend-girlfriend.” (27-year-old female, diagnosed with gastric cancer at age 14)	“Who I've been with now for a little over three years, he's helped me see the positive side of all those things…it's helped our relationship be even stronger.” (27-year-old female, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 12)
“It gives me more of an appreciation that I'm still able to be here.” (35-year-old-male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 14)	“I went through that sort of psychological and physical trauma. [It] kind of forces you to grow up quicker, so frivolous things like random hook ups or spontaneous relationships don't hold the same amount of importance for me as I think it would [for] a normal person. (27-year-old female, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 12)	“My wife when we were dating, I…told her my story. And that instantly made us closer and more connected, so you know in some ways [cancer] was negative, but in other ways it was very positive, because you know, how she reacted kind of reaffirmed that she was a person who I definitely wanted to be with.” (27-year-old male, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 17)

(3) No impact of cancer on romantic relationships (25%; n = 10)
“I can't really say it has had much of an effect on that area because I was so young and it was kind of before that time of my life.” (41-year-old female, diagnosed with leukemia at age 13)

(4) Perceived fewer partners than peers (40%; n = 16)
“I don't really think it affected it either way…I…started dating my husband at 17, so we've been together for a long time. I mean basically the only one I've ever been with.” (31-year-old-female, diagnosed with lymphoma at age 10)
“I haven't dated many people and I married the third person I dated. I've always been very careful and not promiscuous and I don't know if that has anything to do with being a cancer survivor or just being responsible…I think I was a little pickier than most people.” (33-year-old-female, diagnosed with leukemia at age 7)
“I didn't have a lot of the typical short relationships that other peers had. I had really serious relationships, I've only had two, and I married the last one.” (34-year-old-male, diagnosed with sarcoma at age 15)