Dating after cancer
This might not be the place to ask this, but it’s something that has been weighing on me, and I’m genuinely curious about other people’s experiences.
I’m a woman in my 40s, a woman of color, and a cancer survivor. Since cancer, and particularly with the weight gain and changes to my body that came with treatment, I’ve started to feel as though nobody wants to date me anymore.
I know people often talk about how women can begin to feel invisible as they reach middle age, but this feels like something on a whole different scale. Was I supermodel-cute before cancer? No. But I got attention. People noticed me. Now I sometimes feel as though men don’t even look at me.
So I genuinely want to ask: do men want to date women who are cancer survivors? For those of you who have dated after cancer, what has your experience been like?
I’m sorry if this sounds terribly sad. I think I’m just having one of those moments where I’m grieving how much cancer changed, and this part of it has been particularly difficult for me.
Posted Sep 17, 2026, 3:26 AM UTC