While having a baby may be a challenge due to a wide variety of reasons, one of these is dealing with endometriosis while trying to conceive. Endometriosis has the potential to impact fertility and is a condition where the lining of a women’s uterus, the endometrium, which is responsible for a woman’s menstruation, thickens excessively. When a woman has endometriosis this tissue grows in places where it shouldn’t like the ovaries, intestines and tissue that line the pelvis.
Fertility can be affected when the endometrial tissue grows and affects the normal functioning of the reproductive organs. Sometimes this tissue could for example keep eggs from being released. In the fallopian tunes the excess tissue can block the sperm from traveling along the tubes to the egg.
According to , G. David Adamson, MD a reproductive endocrinologist and surgeon with ARC Fertility and medical director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s In Virtro Fertilization (IVF) Program says it can be challenging but sounds a hopeful note saying, “ Lots of women with endometriosis — as much as one-third — get pregnant naturally, without any fertility treatment at all. Even if a woman doesn’t conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse eventually, in some way or another, many women with endometriosis eventually do become pregnant. “With IVF, most women will get pregnant.”
“A big change from even a decade ago is the increased focus on research to understand and treat infertility in endometriosis going on around the world today,” adds Adamson.
According to Endometriosis UK minimal to mild endometriosis sufferers have an almost normal chance of conception but some sufferers are infertile for unclear reasons. In cases of moderate and severe endometriosis chances of natural conception are reduced. This is because there are more adhesions that can trap the egg and stop it from moving down the fallopian tube.
Even though this varies from person to person and is not scientifically proven, surgery to remove cysts, adhesions and nodules has been found to increase chances of conception. Your doctor can shed light on whether you would benefit from this.
There are several fertility treatments options available for women with endometriosis. The suitability of the treatments depends on the severity of the endometriosis, the woman’s age, how long they have been trying to conceive and whether there are other fertility factors. Treatment choice is usually tailored to the individual by their doctor
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