Endometriosis and Infertilty
Endometriosis and Infertility
If you experience intense pain right before or during your periods, ongoing lower belly or back pain, heavy periods, discomfort during sex or trouble getting pregnant, you should ask your team at New York Reproductive Wellness about endometriosis.
Many patients across Long Island and New York experience this common condition. Endometriosis affects more than 5 million women in the U.S. It’s a condition where tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus (the endometrium) grows outside of your uterus in areas such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes and on the lining of abdominal organs. This condition can make it more difficult to become pregnant – but not impossible.
Approximately 1-in-3 women with endometriosis have difficulty getting pregnant. For some women, signs and symptoms of the endometriosis may temporarily improve with pregnancy. There is no cure for endometriosis, but treatment can help with the symptoms and efforts to become pregnant. Before starting any fertility treatment, a complete fertility evaluation is needed – which can include hormone and other blood testing and checking your partner’s sperm count.
There are different treatments depending on the stage of endometriosis. For women under 40 with stage 1 or 2, the likelihood of having a baby with one treatment of clomiphene or IUI is approximately 10%. Other conservative treatments can include pain medication, hormone therapy or hormonal contraceptives. If treatment is not successful after a few months, the next step could be injected fertility medications with IUI, or IVF.
For women who want to get pregnant but hormonal treatments aren’t working, or have reached stage 3 or 4 endometriosis, your doctor may recommend minimally invasive surgery to remove the endometrial tissue and scarring. Pregnancy rates are higher for endometriosis patients after going through treatment, surgery and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Before you start IVF treatment, your doctor will explain the chance of a successful pregnancy based on your age and hormone testing. The likelihood of a pregnancy from one try of IVF ranges from 50% or higher for women in their 20s, to only 10% for women in their 40s. Ask your doctor what is treatment they recommend, and if IVF is the best option for you.
