Life
Endometriosis is a disease that's difficult to understand, especially when you're trying to conceive. And if you are lucky enough to have a child, you may be wondering is it possible to have more than one safe pregnancy when diagnosed with endometriosis?
In order to answer that question, you have to dive a little deeper into the condition. According to the American Pregnancy Association, approximately seven million women affected with endometriosis, so it's important to know that you're not alone. And of those women, the Global Study of Women’s Health reported that 60 to 70 percent of women worldwide with endometriosis are considered fertile. That being said, the American Pregnancy Association noted that tubal scarring from endometriosis is the leading cause of infertility in the United States.
With all this conflicting information, it's hard to make sense of this complicated and devastating condition. Although some people believe that pregnancy cures endometriosis, the American Pregnancy Association debunked this theory, and noted that pregnancy may alleviate symptoms associated with endometriosis, which are often painful and treated by medication, acupuncture, diet, and a host of other holistic options. But as of today, there is no known cause and no known cure for endometriosis, according to Mayo Clinic.
Unfortunately, there's not much known in the medical community about fertility rates and endometriosis. According to Healthy Women, there is some evidence that women with mild endometriosis are less fertile than women without the condition. However, the article claims that women with endometriosis can get pregnant multiple times. But what about the rate of healthy second babies being born to women with endometriosis?
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Some Doctors Think Inflammation May Be A Key Factor
OK, this is a little complicated, so here goes. Inflammation, which is related to immune function, causes general swelling, pain, and irritation of tissues that affect your organs. When people experience inflammation, chemicals released by the immune system try to calm the inflammation. Although this is a natural bodily response, studies show that high levels of cytokines can negatively affect fertility and the potential health of embryos. This is something important to bring up with your physician if you know you want more than one child.
Additionally, those chemicals can potentially mess with the health of your eggs, which will negatively affect fertility, regardless of how many live births you've had. Keep in mind, in medical circles, inflammation is trending right now, and is believed to be the cause of everything from leaky gut to sepsis. Is it the key to understanding second births with women affected with endometriosis? This is definitely something to bring up to your fertility specialist.
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Some Doctors Urge Women With Endometriosis To Start A Family Sooner, Rather Than Later
When you're diagnosed with endometriosis, which according to Endometriosis.com can occur as early as your teenage years, you want to start family planning STAT. What does this mean? It means that your 20s, your most fertile years, are a good time to take care of your overall health. Additionally, you may want to consider seeing a fertility specialist as soon as you start to think about having a baby. This doesn't mean run out and get pregnant as soon as you're legal, but you want to do everything in your power to optimize your fertility, especially if you know that you want more than one child.
