Can I get pregnant if I have endometriosis?

So you've just found out about your endometriosis diagnosis. You might be wondering if you will ever be able to get pregnant.

The short answer is: probably.

The long answer is: it depends on your own body - where your endometrial lesions are located in your pelvic area, how endometriosis is affecting your ovaries and ovulation, your overall fertile health, and other factors that are unique to you.

And the severity of your disease doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a harder time becoming pregnant, either. Some women with stage 4 endometriosis have no issues becoming pregnant, whereas others with stage 1 have no success becoming pregnant, even with IVF.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 19. Despite many surgeries and therapies to manage symptoms, I still deal with the pain of the disease every day. Thankfully, I was able to become pregnant through IVF after five years of trying.

It’s important to know that having endometriosis does not automatically make a woman infertile. If you are facing a diagnosis of endometriosis and wonder about your fertility, try to relax (don’t we all hate that phrase?!). But really, move forward in your journey to parenthood with hope and excitement, just as most hopeful parents do. If within a few months you are not having any luck conceiving, it’s definitely worth speaking with your gynecologist about your fertility. Simple blood tests can reveal much about our fertile health.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 19. I had been dating my then-boyfriend for three months when I received the formal diagnosis of endometriosis. I remember calling my boyfriend on the phone, a few hours after I returned to my apartment to recover from surgery.

“I found out I have a disease that might mean I can’t have kids in the future. If you want kids in the future, we should probably end this thing.”

To my amazement, the guy stuck around! And he’s still around — 12 years and two kids later. Turns out, endometriosis complicated my ability to conceive on our own. We tried naturally for five years and eventually turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF) after two failed intrauterine inseminations (IUI). We were so lucky that we conceived on our first round of IVF and gave birth to a girl nine months later. Five years later, we finalized the adoption of our second child. Now, we’re prepping for our final attempt to become pregnant via IVF.

Endometriosis is not a guaranteed indicator of infertility. If you are starting your journey to become pregnant, my advice is to move forward with hope and faith that you can conceive.