Fertility

[naughtoj]

For those of you educated on the topic, do you think if you have been on hormonal contraception since age 16 (Depo and pills) and are now 29 and wanting to have a child SOMEDAY that it is important to go off the hormones to make sure that all is well fertility wise?



I just don't remember anything about my cycles or periods before hormonal birth control and sometimes I wonder. I had to make an emergency visit to a gynecologist the other day and he asked me if I wanted to start a family someday. I said, "Yeah, maybe". Then he said, "Well, just make sure you do it by age 34". I was startled by this answer (thought it was kind of "old school") and I asked why. He went on to say that all kinds of birth defects and problems rise after that age. In addition, when I complained about hormonal birth control, he got kindof angry...stating that hormones do wonderful things for us and that birth control pills are great.


Everytime I talk to my HCP about birth contol pills, they want to fight them to the end. Wouldn't natural be better, no matter what?


I just thought my experience with this gyno was funny, but also thought provoking for me. I would hate to get to age 34 and then find out there is something wrong with me, fertility wise.


Thoughts?

 

[ZT27]

For me, I personally wouldn't wait until my mid 30's to have a baby. I had my first at 24 and my second right before I turned 26. There is a risk as you get older. Some women have no problems, some women have a lot of problems getting pregnant. I'd do some research, etc about it. Good luck!

Lisa

 

[JulieL]

The reality is that the average women's fertlity begins to decrease at age 27. That doesn't mean your at the end of your fertility "clock" at 27 it just means your bodies rate of releasing good eggs starts to decline. There is no way to know what your rate will be. Your mother could have had no fertility problems at that age (30's or so) but you could and the reverse is the same. For what it's worth I was on Depo for close to 2 years and it took me 5 months to get my first bleeding. I took my last dose of Dep in 10/03, and have been actively ttc and nothing yet, and I already have a son, so second infertility problems at the age of 24 never occured to me. If you are serious about eventually ttc, you should get tested by your OBGYN to make sure all is ok to wait. If you have infertility issues it could take years to get all your homones balanced. Then again you could conceive your first month trying. I wouldn't be in the dark about this if you are sure you want a family one day.

 

[candi]

Like the previous poster just said, your egg production declines with age. I believe if you are pregnant age 35 or after there are added tests for birth defects, Down's syndrome being one of them.

I work with a women who had her son at age 48. It was an accident...she was on the pill.

 

[naughtoj]

Interesting comments everyone. I am seriously considering getting off the pills and just using a diaphragm. I have never gone that route before, but looks doable for me. My doctor won't give me an IUD, seems you should have one child first. If I did get pregnant using the diaphragm I would survive. It would be my feeling that it was God's choice.


Thanks guys!

 

[candi]

My sister used a diaphram sucessfully for years.

I believe the reason waiting to have an IUD after childbirth is that it's much easier to insert through the cervix. I had one for 13 years. The doctor inserted it 6 weeks after my daughter was born and I remember I didn't feel a thing. When they took it out...that was a different story.

 

[midnight]

I went off the pill for three months before trying to conceive my first child. I got pregnant the first month. I was 34. He was born perfectly healthy. Between then and my 2nd attempt at pregnancy, we used condoms. 2 1/2 years after giving birth to my first child, I conceived immediately again and gave birth to another perfectly health child, this time a girl. I didn't get married until I was 29 so it wasn't a choice for me to have children in my 20's. That's the way it is for a lot of women I know. I will say that some of the women in this age group do have fertility problems, probably more than women in their 20's. That is undeniable. But there can be many reasons for infertility, not just age and sometimes it is the man, not the woman who is the one with the problems. If you have had problems with your period at any time during your life or ovarian cysts or endometriosis, the sooner you get things check3ed out the better. Otherwise, if you are over 35 and trying to get pregnant, if you are not pregnant after 6 months, you should look into fertility issues. That is what my sister did and now she at the age of 37, has a beautiful, healthy, 6 month baby boy. I think if you are under 25, they want you to try for a year before they start fertility treatments.

Anyway, the short answer is "it couldn't hurt" to get things checked out. Be assertive with your OB/GYN if he/she pushes back. It's your body.

Good luck!!!


Lois

"Don't forget to breathe!"

 

[LaGuapa]

Most of my friends waited to have kids until their mid-30s. My sister had been on the pill from age 14 because of cramps. She decided to have a baby at age 38 and got pregnant on her very first try! None of my friends have had problems with fertility after being on the Pill for so long (I don't know anything about Depo Provera).

I know it seems logical that being on the Pill for a long time would hamper getting pregnant, but everything I've read on the subject says it doesn't affect your chances or take you longer to get pregnant than women who weren't taking it.

 

[naughtoj]

Good to know..I won't worry too much over it....Thanks!

 

[dss62467]

No. I went on the pill when I was 17 and was on it until I was um...32. 31? Almost 32. Yeah, I went off in January when I was 31 and got pregnant in October (I was 32 then). The pill isn't going to mess with your fertility.

I believe we have a gynocologist as a forum member, so I'm sure she'll have some real insight. If I remember my biology classes correctly, a woman does not continue producing eggs. She has them all and they start being released once she begins her menstrual cycle. Since they're there for such a long time, as they get older, their genetic stuff can get a little messed up and birth defects happen.

They use the age of 35 as the age that it starts getting more likely that you'll have complications. But I still think your chances of having a healthy baby are still pretty good.

I haven't taken biology since 1986, so please forgive me if I'm completely wrong about that. And if I am...let me know because I'll have to study up on it so I can explain it to my daughter in a few years. I was only a B student in biology anyway.