GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — FOX 17 has brought you the story of the Myers family in Grand Rapids, looking for help having another child through a gestational carrier after a cancer diagnosis. But what does that process look like for both families going through cancer, and women who want to help?

Family planning can be the last thing on a patient’s mind when going through cancer, but Dr. Valerie Shavell with The Fertility Center in Grand Rapids said it’s something families need to think about before they start treatment. “It’s a lot for them to face the cancer diagnosis, but it’s also important not to forget about future fertility,” Dr. Shavell said.

The Fertility Center works closely with local oncologists to make sure patients know, cancer isn’t the ‘be all, end all’ in growing a family. Dr. Shavell said, “There is the option for women to go through egg freezing for example, so eggs are frozen for the future if that woman would need to use them. There’s the option of freezing embryos if the woman is in a relationship and would like to fertilize the eggs, and keep those embryos for the future, if needed.”

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids family is asking for help growing their family after surviving breast cancer. FOX 17 introduced you to Tammy Myers a few years ago while she was recovering from her treatments. She’s also been working to change screening recommendations for the disease ever since. Now, her family needs some help making a wish they put on hold days after she was diagnosed, come true. When Myers was diagnosed five years ago, she and her husband Jordan had been trying for baby No. 2. When they were told they wouldn’t be able to have another child naturally, Myers had her eggs harvested and now those embryos are frozen. The family is now looking for someone to give the ultimate gift, by carrying one of those embryos for them.

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A lot of you have asked or wondered if my husband Jordan would ever be willing to share aspects of how my Breast cancer affected him and our family. He has always said that he would someday, but feared he wouldn’t be able to put his thoughts into words in the same way that I have. I think it was something he would have gotten to eventually, especially if something happened and I was not doing well, but we got bit of a nudge a few months back when Good Housekeeping contacted me. They were interested in interviewing Jordan and I for a story about young families facing breast cancer. We of course said yes as it has unintentionally become part of my mission to share the side of breast cancer that so many hide, but this was a great opportunity for Jordan to share a bit of his story as well. I will admit he was hesitant at first, and in his words he feared he may “screw it up”. I told him that It was his call, but I did have one stipulation….. If he agreed to the story, he had to be 100% open and honest with the journalist writing the story.

At age 33, Tammy Myers’ life changed forever.

“I don’t have a family history,” Myers said. “In my head, I think society makes you think that if you don’t have a family history…you’re not really at risk.”

Within a week of her official diagnosis of breast cancer, she was heading into the first of 14 surgeries.

“Bilateral mastectomy, a couple of emergency surgeries, the preventative removal of my tubes and ovaries,” Myers recalled.

Tammy Myers is an art director, photographer, breast cancer survivor, and founder of the Forgotten Fighters movement. On February 16, 2015, Tammy was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 33 years old, with no family history of the disease. With her advertising background and a passion for cause-based work, she turned her cancer diagnosis into a project that brings hope and inspiration to others. Just one week after her diagnosis, Tammy launched the blog, My Personal Pink Time, where she crosses barriers and opens herself up to be vulnerable for a greater good by sharing the side of cancer that most people do everything in their power to hide. Tammy’s followers include fellow cancer patients, caregivers, and even medical professionals who credit Tammy for putting into words their feelings they couldn’t express. Her medical team has thanked her for helping them to better understand what their patients are going through.

Tammy Myers’ “Forgotten Fighters” won a professional Judges’ Choice award. More than 400 West Michigan creatives came together on Feb. 16 for the 2017 rendition of the annual ADDY awards, presented by the American Advertising Federation of West Michigan.

“The truth is,” Tammy Myers said, “breast cancer isn’t limited to those who have a family history, high body weight, lower activity level—to those who consume more alcohol or even those who smoke. It can attack any woman, at any age.”

October is breast cancer awareness month, and thanks to huge support and research funding, there have been great improvements in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. But 85 percent of breast cancers happen in women who have no family history of breast cancer because of genetic mutations.

Dr. Jayne Paulson, breast surgeon with Spectrum Health Medical Group and Tammy Myers, breast cancer survivor came to talk about how to encourage everyone to spread the word about breast health.