When you have Endometriosis and you know you want children, you might be worried about how it affects your fertility.
And yes, Endometriosis does pose some challenges for your fertility, but it does not necessarily mean you’ll be infertile.
The more you understand about your Endometriosis and how it affects your fertility, the better able you will be to make the right decisions for you, so here are 4 things you may not get told.
1. Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease and inflammation affects your fertility
Endometriosis is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory disease, which means you are constantly inflamed and all your organs and tissues are inflamed. This includes your uterus, ovaries and Fallopian tubes, all organs that play a key role in your fertility. The inflammation affects your hormones, your ovulation and an inflamed uterus may potentially make embryo implantation less successful. In a study of women with inflammatory bowel disease (also a chronic, systemic inflammatory disease), researchers found that their uterine wall showed inflammation and that fertility was reduced.
2. Endometriosis affects the quality of your eggs which can reduce your chances of falling pregnant and increase the risk of miscarriage
Endometriosis affects the quality of your eggs. In particular, it affects the parts of your eggs that produce energy. Your eggs start go on a maturation journey a few months before you ovulate, and this journey requires a lot of energy. If your eggs are less able to produce energy, there can be chromosomal damage, which reduce the chances it will be fertilised successfully and will also increase the risk of miscarriage.
3. If you have Endometriomas, they can affect your hormones as well as interfere with normal ovulation
Endometriomas, or chocolate cysts, are mostly found on ovaries and sometimes on Fallopian tubes. Your ovaries play an important role in your hormone cycle. Endometriomas on your ovaries can interfere with the hormone levels needed for fertility. Endometriomas can also make ovulation more difficult, depending on their exact location. If they block where the follicle release the egg or the entrance to the Fallopian tube, the egg may never even get fertilised.
4. The right nutrition can affect your fertility positively
What you eat, and in particular what foods you are intolerant to (you can read more about food intolerances here), plays a big role in your inflammation. By tweaking your diet to remove foods that we know are inflammatory, as well as those that you personally are intolerant to, you start to reduce inflammation. And certain supplements can improve the quality of your eggs or even shrink Endometriomas!
If you’d like to learn more about Endometriosis and fertility, you can register for my free online workshop “How to improve your fertility when you have Endometriosis”, on Friday 17 February, 9:00 – 10:00AM (Australian Daylight Savings Time).