| Greetings,
It's understandably a touchy subject: a woman's
weight
and whether it impacts her ability to get pregnant or
not. In many discussion circles, you'll find sensitive
feelings behind the often caustic remarks about "fat
phobic" doctors.
What's the truth of the matter?
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How Weight Impacts Fertility
Each individual's fertility, their ability to get pregnant, is
dependent on many factors. One of the most crucial is
the state of the body's endocrine system. Your
endocrine system -- a total-body pipeline made up of
several specialized organs that make and send out
chemicals called hormones -- essentially manages
how well the rest of your body's organs function. If your
endocrine system isn't balanced and remains in that
state, chances are good that eventually, other systems
in your body will become unbalanced, too.
How your reproductive system works is highly
dependent on whether or not your endocrine system
is balanced. It doesn't take much for some bodies to
wind up off track. Sudden and acute or chronic and
low-grade stress, whether emotional or physical, can
be enough for some. Certain health conditions, too,
will upset the delicate balance of hormones required
for optimal overall and reproductive health.
When a body's endocrine system is disrupted, more
problems ensue as a result of either too much or too
little hormone being secreted. Sometimes the
problems occur when one or more hormones is
secreted too early or too late in what is supposed to
be a synchronized relay.
One of the conditions that can shake up this delicate
network relay of chemicals is the amount of fat on a
body. There is evidence that the amount of fat stored
in a woman's body -- whether too much or too little --
can be correlated with the production and distribution
of important hormones such as estrogen. The result
is often ovulatory dysfunction, which will mean far
fewer chances at getting pregnant.
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How Much is Enough?
A simple way of finding out if your body is balanced
weight-wise is a calculation called the Body Mass
Index (BMI).
BMI is figured by taking your body weight in kilograms
and dividing it by your height in meters squared.
- BMI 19-25 = Healthy
- BMI 26-29 = Overweight
- BMI 30-39 = Obese
- BMI 40+ = Extremely Obese
Naturally, there's more to healthy weight and fitness
than a simple mathematical calculation. But it can be
a good starting point to gauge whether or not you
might need to talk with a health provider about making
lifestyle changes that will impact your fertility.
It's not necessary to be physically perfect in order to
get pregnant. However, for people who have any other
contributing factors to their infertility -- such as tubal or
other structural blockages, other causes of poor
ovulation, age beyond 35 years, or male-factor issues -
- being over or under weight will only be an additional
obstacle in trying to conceive.
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On Your Side
I know how difficult it is to make the choice to seek
fertility care. I also understand how uncomfortable
discussions of weight can be -- many patients already
have a sense of shame and guilt about their infertility
issues. Talking about weight can sometimes add to
the sense of burden.
Rest assured that great strides have been made by
research and clinical practice in the successful
treatment of infertility for people of all sizes. As a
reproductive endocrinologist, I work with every patient
individually to help them find healthy balance that will
impact their overall health, in addition to optimizing
their chances at conception.
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