Infertility Treatments for Obese Women
If you are overweight, this may play a part in your infertility. It is important, when looking into infertility treatments, to understand how your weight impacts on your fertility, and to know what infertility treatments are available to you.
Ovulation
Today in America and England, almost 50% of women between the ages of 25 and 55 are overweight. The extra weight on a woman's frame does not cause the fertility problems. Fertility problems are due, instead, in overweight women primarily because of ovulation issues. Overweight women have more estrogen in their bodies since fat cells produce estrogen. Estrogen has been found to work as a birth control of sorts in the body. Overweight women will often find that they either don't ovulate or that they have inadequate or sporadic ovulation. Overweight women are also more prone to PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and LPD (luteal phase defect).
Infertility Treatments for Heavy Women
Researchers have not yet created any specific fertility treatments to help heavy women. First, a fertility specialist will recommend that the woman try to lose weight to create a steady ovulation cycle. Some doctors will even say that they won't work with a couple until the woman agrees to try to lose weight. While it is certainly ideal for the woman to lose weight, not everyone can get themselves to do so. If you have a doctor who says he won't work with you as you are, and you don't feel that you'll be able to lose the weight, you can find another doctor. Once you find a doctor that will work with you, you'll undergo the same fertility treatments including IVF, IUI or other treatment options other women have.
Fat Eggs?
Researchers in Australia have done recent studies on the effects that obesity has on the woman's eggs. They have found, in mice, that obesity is a key factor in the mice's infertility as a result of how the fat affects the egg. They have actually found that they can take the "fat egg" and reverse the effects of obesity on the eggs, creating a healthy egg. These findings were made by a PhD student, Cadence Minge, at the University of Adelaide's Research Centre for Reproductive Health. They have not yet been done on humans, but it does raise interesting questions about obesity and fertility.
If you are overweight and looking for infertility treatments, you'll want to find a caring doctor who will work with you. You'll probably be tested, first, for PCOS and LPD. You'll also have other fertility tests done that other couples have done to help them to conceive. Fertility issues, coupled with weight issues, can be very sensitive for the couple. You and your partner should be very supportive of each other through this process and should seek to work with a supportive doctor. Hopefully, with time, you'll be able to conceive and to have a future filled with children!
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