Why Your Weight Might Be Important When You're Trying to Get Pregnant

Your fertility is affected by your weight. Having a baby may be more challenging if you are overweight or underweight. This is because an imbalance in the reproductive hormones brought on by an excess or lack of fat might allow you to get pregnant at any time throughout your menstrual cycle.

More than 70% of women with weight-related infertility might conceive naturally if they reduced their weight to a healthy level, claims the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). By just changing your diet and exercise levels, you may be able to achieve this. But to find and address hidden health problems affecting your weight, you may need the assistance of a physician or other expert.

How overweight women's fertility is impacted

Fertility issues are often attributed to obesity. Obese individuals often do not ovulate on a regular basis, which might make it difficult for them to conceive. You cannot get pregnant if you do not ovulate.

The hormone estrogen is normally produced by your ovaries, but it is also produced by fat cells. Your body will produce too much estrogen if you have an overabundance of fat cells. You could cease ovulating as a consequence, much like when you use birth control or are pregnant (two conditions that entail excessive estrogen).

Although evidence indicates that obesity might reduce your chances of conceiving even with assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization, fertility treatments can make it simpler to get pregnant (IVF).

1. To obtain a weight that best matches your body, health, and pregnancy objectives as soon as possible, it's a good idea to see a doctor.

How Underweight Affects a Woman's Fertility

Carrying too little weight affects 5% of individuals vs 50% to 70% of people in industrialized nations like the U.S. Carrying too much weight affects 50% to 70% of people. While being underweight might affect your capacity to conceive, it can also affect your fertility more than being overweight or obese.

Less fat cells are present in underweight or severely slim individuals. Their bodies produce less estrogen as a result than those of others. And just as too much estrogen may interfere with ovulation, so can too little estrogen.

Due to intense training, certain athletes as well as those suffering from eating disorders like anorexia may completely cease menstruation. Your menstruation may stop if you drop below 10% to 15% of your usual body weight. Even if you are menstruating, substantial weight loss may cause your periods to become irregular, which suggests you may not be ovulating frequently.

For those who are underweight, fertility therapies like ovulation-stimulating drugs often work. Furthermore, underweight individuals have the same chance of becoming pregnant healthily using donated eggs as "normal"-weight individuals. Still, doctors highly advise that you seek a doctor's assistance to put on a healthy amount of weight before attempting to conceive since there are health hazards for kids born to individuals with low body weight.

Other Women's Fertility Issues Associated With Weight

If you happen to be overweight or underweight and are having trouble conceiving, a doctor shouldn't disregard additional testing just because a link between weight and fertility has been discovered. Sometimes, rather than the other way around, a hormonal imbalance causes a weight issue. In these circumstances, addressing the hormone imbalance's underlying cause may make it simpler to manage your weight and increase your fertility.

ovarian polycyst syndrome (PCOS)

Ovulation dysfunction is often brought on by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). PCOS affects up to 95% of individuals who seek reproductive treatments because they don't ovulate often. 5 A lot of PCOS sufferers produce too much insulin, a hormone that helps turn blood sugar into energy. Obesity and irregular periods are both associated with high insulin levels.

Losing merely 5% to 10% of body weight may help restore normal ovulation in overweight or obese PCOS patients.

5. Medication that directly addresses their insulin problems helps other individuals. Metformin, an insulin-resistance medication, has been shown to promote weight loss and regular ovulation in a large number of PCOS patients.

Thyroid Conditions

It is also recognized that thyroid conditions might affect fertility and weight. The hormones T3 and T4 are not produced in sufficient amounts when you have hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid. Both ovulation and metabolism, which are related to weight management, are regulated by these hormones.

Many hypothyroidism sufferers might benefit from taking medication to improve the efficiency with which their bodies produce an egg throughout each menstrual cycle. Nearly one-quarter of participants in a study of 400 infertile adults had hypothyroidism, and 76% of them were able to get pregnant after receiving therapy.

Male Fertility and Body Weight

Both spouses must take into account how their weight may be hurting their chances of conceiving, even though the gestational parent may naturally concentrate on improving their own health while attempting to become pregnant. Male fertility plays a role in 45% to 50% of situations when a couple is unable to conceive, and growing evidence implicates weight problems as a key cause.

Nearly in lockstep with the rise in male infertility has been the growth in obesity rates across the industrialized world. Similar to how it affects female hormones, being overweight may upset the appropriate balance of male hormones. Poor sperm quality and motility, or the sperm's capacity to travel quickly and readily inside the female reproductive system, are associated with male obesity. Ejaculate volume decreases when BMI and waist circumference increase, according to a research that looked at both variables.

A comprehensive analysis of research also shown that low BMI is linked to poor semen quality. Researchers are currently investigating whether this is primarily due to low levels of body fat having a detrimental influence on male hormones or whether there are other unhealthy lifestyle variables that may also affect sperm.