Your Uterus, Fibroids, And Fertility

Your uterus is one of the most essential parts of your reproductive system. This is the womb, the place that your baby will call home for the nine months that it will have to stay in your body. No woman can get pregnant without it. However, sometimes the uterus gets sick and then it becomes really hard to get pregnant. One cause of this problem for the uterus is the presence of fibroids. These growths can have negative effects to you and your fertility.

Also called myomas, fibroids are extra growths on and inside your uterus. They are actually tumors but are benign or non-cancerous. Although they may seem a little off-putting to have these growths hanging out of your uterus’ walls, these myomas are very common among women. They occur in up to 50% of white American women and 60% of African-American women before they hit menopause. After they hit menopause, the number goes up as high as 80%.

Despite their common appearance in women, they are not fatal and are hardly ever noticed at times. Women can actually live all their life without having to worry about them. But on rare occasions, the myomas will start to affect your uterus in negative ways. If they grow too large, they start to distort the uterus’ shape and fetal development will be very difficult. They can also grow in places that will block other things from going into the uterus like if a myoma grows near the fallopian tubes.

Your uterus is usually examined through ultrasound, hysterogram, or hysteroscopy. The ultrasounds and hysterograms are useful for initial imaging. This gives an image of your reproductive organs and uterus that your doctor can examine without going into your body. Most of the time, myomas will be easily detected. However, if you’re examining your myomas because they may be causing infertility, you will have to get more detailed examinations to get the exact nature of the growths. A hysteroscopy may be required. This procedure uses a small camera that gets inserted into your body and gives an actual view of the uterus from inside.

If you are one the 3% of women who’s myomas are causing their infertility, don’t worry. You can still get pregnant as these myomas can be treated. Studies have shown that after treatment, the pregnancy rate of women affected by myomas returns to normal. But you really have to put an emphasis on correct diagnosis. Not all myomas need to be removed. If you have to remove them, you will have to determine their nature properly to determine the correct procedure required. Normally a surgery called myomectomy is done to remove them. A less severe case of myomas can call for a hysteroscopic myomectomy that uses a special hysteroscope to remove the growths. More severe cases will call for more major surgeries. There is a less invasive way to treat the growths. Through a process called Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE), the myomas can be shrunk to harmless sizes. However, this is a newer procedure that hasn’t been completely studied for adverse effects on pregnancies. Remember to discuss the treatment options with your doctor before making a decision.

Don’t be too quick to get stressed out over myomas. Some are never going to cause you any problems and for those that do there are ready treatments. Should you have to get treated, there is still a large chance for you to get pregnant after the procedure. But remember that your uterus has to be healthy for you to have a better chance at preganancy. Sometimes myomas are only part of the cause and you may need further testing and treatment before you can start a family.

By: Aaren Humpherys

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Heather and Aaren Humpherys suffered from infertility for over 7 years until they learned the secrets to overcoming infertility. They are now the parents of 3 children. For more great information on reliableinfertilityanswers.com/fibroids-and-infertility/”>Fibroids Infertility, visit www.ReliableInfertilityAnswers.com”>www.ReliableInfertilityAnswers.com.