My oncologist knows that we can't have children so I don't think that birth defects is the reason. He stated that it was the toxicity. I can tell you that I smelled like a chemical waste dump for quite a while because of the chemo -it was truly awful. Honestly I was more concerned about surviving the damned disease (or should I say the treatment for it). I lost over 60 lbs and was sick to my stomach, a lot, for quite a while, along with constant bouts with thrush and constipation, none of which were very sexy issues. Thank GOD all of that is over with.