Having babies....

I have been trying to have a baby for years. But I have not been successful. I have been told its because of my weight. Have you or do you know of anyone who has had this problem, then after the surgery, they successfully gave birth?

i was wondering the same exact thing if anyone on here has had babies after wls? i was told that you deffinialty have to wait 2 yrs and i have heard of some people being preggy before the 2 yrs was up when i first started this journy about 2 yrs ago the doctor up are baraitric treatment centers told me that is is strongly discouraged before 2 years out but i would really like to hear if anyone has actually had children and what doc thought are one it now i was also told i cannot have children because my weight and hope to have atleast 1 child in the future

Hi Bobbie There is a prego forum on here I know there are several women that have healthy babies after wls. Go to the main entrance on the left hand of the screen there will be several forums scroll down to pregnancy forum. I'm sure the many women on there can help you!! Good luck. Roxxy

Hi guys! Haven't been to that forum yet, but I am an OB/GYN Research Nurse at OSU, and I am a wls patient, and frequent flyer here on the board! I have worked with a few women who have delivered post wls. I have had one in my study and we have a twin mommy in another study! Obesity in women can be directly related to Polycysitc Ovarian Disease. A great deal of time taking the weight off will indeed help. As a matter of fact your fertility will increase as the weight goes down and we recommend that women use a back up method of birth control. If you are on oral contraceptives, many need adjusted because of absorption issues. There are other methods that are really successful, one being the Nuva ring. For permanent methods there is a new proceedure out there call Essure. Non invasive, very successful. The IUD has also made a comeback, much improved I might add. I would HIGHLY recommend that you wait AT LEAST one year after having surgery before conceiving. Father out would be even better. You need to let your body adjust to the surgery and weight loss. We have also found that doing glucola testing can become all but impossible (this is from what I have seen, and there may be women who can do it) but the women I have taken care of had severly dumped on it. It is 50 grams of glucose that has to be taken in about 10 minutes. YUCK. One mom had severe nausea and vomiting and ended up on TPN for the duration, some women have done fine. Another one who was about one year out had pain from scar tissue during her pregancy that basically we just had to work with. All in all, the mom's I have taken care of have successfully delivered. Just as a side note... 2 years ago, we had a patient that was 2 years post op, she already had 5 children, then managed to conceive SPONTANEOUS QUADRUPLETS. No fertility, 4 individual eggs. She should have played the lottery as well!!! How's that for improved fertility! They all did well. Good luck. This is an area wide open for research and it is making me salivate all over the place. I am just hoping that a position will open up that will enable me to work in the area I love the most right now...wls patients, and one that I have a lot of background knowledge...OB. Take care, I wish you the best! Valerie

thanks so much for answering yeah i was alreadying thinking i needed to go and get birthcontrol in order to be safe until it's time it's great to know it is possible theres another goal to work towards thanks alot

There are few studies looking at pregnancy and WLS and the general recommendations are not to become pregnant prior to 12 months and preferable wait 18 months. Careful prevention with some form of effective birth control until after that time has past is also recommended. In general most patient/babies who become pregnant prior to that must be monitored carefully until full term. Additional folate supplementation is essential as well as other vitamins. The reasons for weight related infertility are multiple but we do know there is excess fat storage in female patients that produces an excess estrogen effect (just like taking OCPs). This reverses itself upon significant weight loss and fertility increases. I would discuss these issues at length with your bariatric surgeon. If you have additional questions please do not hesitate to email me directly. Sincerely, Dr. Selwyn UC Center for Surgical Weight Loss.