Shannen Doherty turned 52 on April 12, 2023. The “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress has been married to photographer Kurt Iswarienko since 2011. She has fought and defeated cancer once and is now struggling with optimism for a cruel diagnosis. received last year, in 2020, terminal cancer.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. By 2017, due to the treatments, the disease had already reached remission. He was already 46 at the time, an age he had to think seriously about whether or not he wanted to have children. Unfortunately, in addition to adulthood, cancer treatments – chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery – have greatly affected her body.
Three years later, in 2020, life struck Doherty again. The cancer returned, directly in stage 4, metastatic – it had already spread beyond the breasts and lymph nodes. At the time, she said in an interview with Elle magazine that she felt she had much more time to live than she would suspect. Shannen was and is a fighter and to this day she has no intention of giving up the fight and letting cancer win.
However, Doherty had to make some difficult decisions, including whether or not she would (or could) have children.
Her cancer diagnosis changed her plans to have children
Shannen Doherty accepts her diagnosis with realism and optimism. She is aware of the constant changes her body goes through and learns every day how to deal with them. In a 2019 interview with Health magazine, Doherty made a painful confession: “The hormonal changes I went through threw my body into menopause instantly.”
Doherty can’t get out of menopause unless she takes estrogen. Taking estrogen would increase her chances of worsening cancer. However, Doherty has always wanted a child.
She and her husband talked about adoption and egg donors. However, not knowing if she has five or 10 years to live, the actress did not take any steps in this regard for an extremely logical and altruistic reason: “It is certainly something I do not want… my 10-year-old to bury mother. I’ve always wanted a baby. But maybe I should be one in a different way, “she said.