Written past Andrea Reh, M.D., of SGF's Arlington, VA office

Julianne Hough'southward recent press most her struggle with endometriosis brings this common condition to the spotlight. So, let's say y'all have endometriosis, at present what should yous do and what are the treatment options for getting pregnant with endometriosis?

There are several factors that help us to make decisions about your handling. Whether or not y'all take pain and whether or non you lot are trying to conceive are important questions that guide your handling options, and which type of doctor might exist best for you. Getting pregnant with endometriosis is very possible for well-nigh women. While endometriosis may make it harder to excogitate on your own, your chances of getting pregnant with endometriosis can be loftier, depending on the severity of your condition, your age, your overall wellness, and your handling options.

Since endometriosis can take many forms, and the success rates of treatments vary, your physician will outline your best treatment options with an individual program for you lot.

I have hurting, but I'1000 not trying to get significant yet.

If you are experiencing pain because of your endometriosis and you are NOT trying to conceive, your gynecologist can prescribe a diversity of hormonal medications that tin help alleviate the pain. If medications are unsuccessful, yous may want to consider having surgery if you lot have not done and so before, and we would recommend doing and so in the hands of a surgeon who is experienced in endometriosis—and laparoscopy in general. This may be your gynecologist or some other experienced surgeon.

If y'all know yous desire to have a baby at some betoken, but not correct now, and then you should also exist enlightened that there are options to preserve your fertility through egg freezing at this point in time. Recognizing that the number of eggs a woman has will subtract over time, and recognizing that endometriosis does tend to worsen with time, many women are now choosing to proactively freeze their eggs in the issue that their endometriosis threatens their fertility in the future. As well, while laparoscopic surgery can help to reduce the pain associated with endometriosis, it can too negatively bear on your ovarian reserve. Therefore, freezing your eggs prior to surgery ensures you have options in the future. This is a conversation to accept with a fertility specialist who tin can best guide you in your conclusion making process.

I have pain, and I'grand trying to get significant.

For any woman who has or suspects endometriosis and is seeking to get pregnant, we recommend seeing a fertility specialist sooner rather than later. With proper counseling and care, the chances of getting meaning with endometriosis are high for most women.

The offset stride prior to handling is to complete a full infertility piece of work-up to identify any other potential challenges such every bit age or male person fertility issues that the couple may experience when trying to conceive. A fertility specialist tin can help you dominion out other health problems and determine which treatment options are best for you, depending on the severity of your endometriosis and if whatever other factors are present that may brand trying to conceive more difficult. Equally women historic period, treatment options tend to narrow—even if your endometriosis is mild—so we suggest seeking help sooner rather than later.

If you have already been diagnosed with endometriosis, patients with hurting from endometriosis who are trying to conceive can sometimes experience like they are in a catch 22. They take to stop the hormonal medication that is providing them with hurting relief, but then they experience an additional sense of urgency—not to mention discomfort—if they don't conceive in a given month. For patients with pain from endometriosis, they might consider having surgery to alleviate the hurting, which can buy a window of time in which they can hopefully conceive. Seeking consultation with a fertility specialist prior to such a decision can be helpful to maximize the chances of pregnancy after surgery. After surgery, we may make up one's mind to pursue fertility treatment to expedite pregnancy, with either medications like clomiphene citrate (Clomid or Serophene) with an intrauterine insemination (IUI) or fifty-fifty in vitro fertilization (IVF).  The skillful news is that one time a woman is pregnant, her pain from her endometriosis usually subsides during the pregnancy itself.

I've already had surgery for endometriosis, should I take more surgery?

While surgery can be helpful in alleviating pain, we have to exist careful non to go along to operate every time a cyst develops, because with each excision to the ovary, we are as well losing good for you eggs. Also, boosted surgery does not increase the chances of pregnancy later IVF.

I have no hurting, and I'm trying to get pregnant.

The puzzling role of endometriosis is that the degree of disease does not always correlate with the degree of pain that a patient experiences. Some women only take infertility as a consequence of endometriosis, and do not have whatever hurting at all. For these women, the benefit of surgery is less clear, but fertility treatment can be very helpful. This could be either medication to stimulate the ovaries combined with an IUI or IVF.

To watch our On-Demand Webinar on Getting Significant with Endometriosis, click here. During this gratis, on-need event, viewers volition acquire well-nigh the causes and symptoms of endometriosis, and the treatments that are now available to help women conceive. With proper counseling and care, the chances of getting pregnant with endometriosis are high for most women.

Editor's Notation: This mail service was originally published in March 2022 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness every bit of March 2018.

For more than data nigh getting pregnant with endometriosis, or for more than data near egg freezing to aid preserve your family-edifice options for the future, please speak with ane of our New Patient Liaisons at i-877-971-7755 or click to schedule an appointment.