Shannen Doherty on How IVF, Then Menopause, Influenced an Important Decision in Her Cancer Journey

Doherty pursued IVF during her marriage to ex Kurt Iswarienko

Shannen Doherty is opening up about how her desire to be a mom changed the course of her cancer treatment.

In a new episode of her Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty podcast, the actress, 52, opens up about pursuing in vitro fertilization (IVF) during her 11-year marriage to her third husband Kurt Iswarienko.

"Not only did I want a child for myself, but I wanted it for my husband. I wanted it for our marriage, I wanted him to have that part of himself fulfilled as well," she shared with her guest, friend and oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Piro.

"I met my husband, at the time, later in years and you know, a multitude of things happen. And so when it was time to have that decision, we chose to have we needed IVF, and I did a bunch of rounds of it."

Doherty shares that at the time, she thought IVF contributed to her cancer, noting, "a lot of other women that I knew that did IVF that ended up getting breast cancer as well. Sort of the numbers all started stacking up in my head that if you sort of have a cell that's a little wonky and that's sitting on the edge of maybe turning spreading cancer ... that all the hormones that you're pumping your body from IVF are only going to up that chance of it. That was, at least, my thinking."

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Doherty went on to explain, "When I got the 'you're all clear,' remission after chemo and all of that, I knew I wasn't doing IVF anymore because I was already in menopause, so like there was no need for it."

Because she considered IVF a contributing factor to her diagnosis, Doherty explained she declined Tamoxifen, a treatment option, when she went into remission in 2017.

"I don't want to say that I made a very uninformed decision. Like I am a researcher. I'm hardcore about backing up some of my data, certainly not at your level and certainly not at doctor's levels, and researchers' levels. So my decision was, at the time, based on sort of the facts that I knew that I had investigated,"

The star, who has been receiving treatment for cancer over the last eight years, underwent surgery and radiation on her brain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last January, the same month she and Iswarienko separated. The couple cited "irreconcilable differences" in their divorce filing.

During a cover interview with PEOPLE last month, Doherty revealed that she was “open” to finding love again.

“I don’t think I’m going to be single forever,” she said. “I have to love myself and reckon with the past, really, before I can move forward, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll meet somebody — hopefully soon.”

In the same cover shoot, Doherty also shared that her cancer had spread to her bones. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, before revealing in February 2020 that she had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. In June of this year, she then revealed that the cancer had also spread to her brain.

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