Key takeaways

• A 9-post Instagram series targets fertility education for female adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors aged 15 to 39 years who received gonadotoxic therapy. 
• Content addresses reproductive health, fertility counseling, financial resources, and practical steps for requesting laboratory assessments and reproductive endocrinology referrals. 
• Data collection and analysis were ongoing in the abstract, with no completed engagement results or demonstrated improvements in patient outcomes reported. 

An Instagram-based education series aims to help female AYA cancer survivors understand post-treatment fertility risks and initiate reproductive health discussions, according to an abstract presented at the 2026 JADPRO Live meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Melanie Shojinaga, PA-C, and colleagues at Stanford Health Care described the initiative.  

The project addresses gaps in post-treatment fertility education, including uncertainty about reproductive potential and when to seek evaluation or counseling. The authors identified concerns about future family building, psychological distress, and financial barriers as important considerations for this survivor population. 

The intervention comprises 9 sequential posts across 4 categories: awareness, interactive polls, educational content, and actionable guidance. Awareness posts explain how cancer treatment affects fertility, while polls explore survivors’ experiences with pretreatment counseling and satisfaction with prior education. Educational posts address fertility counseling, the distinction between menstrual function and fertility, cryopreservation timing and availability, and financial resources, including state insurance mandates. Action-oriented content includes questions for clinical encounters, a fertility risk calculator, recommended laboratory assessments, and guidance on requesting reproductive endocrinology referral. 

Delivery formats include short-form videos, carousel infographics, polls, and single-image graphics. Printed materials supplement the online series for use during survivorship or AYA-specific visits, connecting social media education with clinical encounters. 

The planned evaluation uses Instagram analytics to measure views, accounts reached, profile visits, and engagement through likes, comments, shares, saves, and new followers. Investigators will assess trends across posts to identify the categories and formats generating the greatest engagement. Poll responses will describe self-reported counseling experiences, and audience demographics will help determine whether the intended population was reached. Results were not included in the abstract. 

For oncology advanced practice providers, the series offers a potential educational adjunct to survivorship visits, although improvements in referral rates or reproductive decision-making have not been demonstrated. The authors proposed future pre- and postcampaign polls to assess knowledge and confidence in initiating fertility conversations and suggested that the approach could be replicated at other institutions.  

Source

Shojinaga M, Simon P, Goblirsch K. Double tap for fertility education: reaching female adolescent and young adult cancer survivors online. Poster presented at: 2026 JADPRO Live; 2026; Minneapolis, MN. Poster JL1421C.