How Endometriosis Can Affect Fertility and What You Can Do About It

Women with endometriosis are often told fertility will be a struggle for them. 

And I know how heavy that can feel when you want nothing more than to be a mother. 

You wonder if “will I ever be able to get pregnant?”.. “Why is my body working against me?”.. “Why do I have to have endo?”

Endometriosis is tough as it is, but fertility challenges add an extra + painful layer to it.

But one thing many docs don’t tell you is there are reasons other than endo that can affect fertility. And your day to day symptoms like fatigue, acne, bloat, and irregular cycles are trying to tell you something about your body.

Take the Body Wisdom Fertility Clues Quiz here to see what your symptoms are telling you that you need more support with + the first step to take to not only get relief, but boost fertility!

But before we dive in, what is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can be found in the pelvic cavity (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cul-de-sac, bladder etc) and in other places like the bowel, diaphragm, lungs, etc. Basically just about everywhere in your body.

I want to re-emphasize the fact that endometriosis is NOT the exact same as the lining of the uterus. So many providers + websites don’t describe this disease correctly and this impacts treatment. This is NOT a period disease.

~30-50% of women with endometriosis struggle with fertility issues. This doesn’t mean you’re doomed.. But this does mean that taking a full body approach to managing this disease is more important than you realize. You’re not broken, but this disease is complex, inflammatory, mult-factorial, and does need targeted support.

How Endo Affects Fertility:

1. Structural Issues: Scar tissue, adhesions, blocked fallopian tubes. This disease can affect physiology, drive inflammation, pain + make it hard to support implantation which is needed to conceive. Endometriosis can also lead to ovarian endometriosis aka endometriomas (“chocolate cysts) which can damage ovarian reserve. And oftentimes when you have one, it can develop on the other ovary.
   
   
2. Altered Embryo Quality: endo is a chronic, inflammatory condition. If your body is inflamed due to poor gut health, lifestyle or nutrition, stress, poor detox, etc, this can increase oxidative stress which can impact egg + embryo quality, whether or not you end up needing IVF.
   
   
3. Implantation Issues: This can be structural as mentioned, but it can also be from a super thin (from low estrogen, PCOS, thyroid conditions, long-term hormonal birth control use) or even thick uterine lining (from scar tissue, polyps, etc), The lining has to be well supported for implantation.
   
   
4. Hormonal/ Immune/ Gut Connection: Endo is a disease that affects the immune system and a large chunk of it lives in our gut. 90% of women with endo have gut issues and our gut health can be a huge player in endo symptoms + fertility. Endometriosis can also make its own estrogen which further contributes to the estrogen dominance many women with endo already experience. You can read more about the endo/gut connection here.

Why Fertility Struggles Aren’t Just about Endo

It’s easy to just blame the endo for our fertility challenges. And while that actually may be the case for you, there are other factors that often get overlooked + dismissed.

I see so many fertility clinics have women with endometriosis jump STRAIGHT into aggressive fertility treatments (loading your body up with estrogen which can actually worsen endo) when their patient’s body may not even be in the best place for treatment in the first place.

I’ve had clients who have endometriosis conceive after working together after being told the only way they’d conceive is with IVF. So just know, it’s possible, babe. You just have to dig into other potential contributors to fertility challenges. 

Some of the biggest ones I see in the women that join our Nourish to Nurture, root- cause focused fertility prep program is poor blood sugar balance, poor gut health, poor detoxification, mineral imbalances, nervous system dysregulation, + nutrient deficiencies. These are ALL things that can be addressed + improved.

It’s not always about the lesions + the structural ways this disease can impact endo. It’s also about the terrain your body is operating in.

Does it feel SAFE, NOURISHED and BALANCED enough to conceive? 

If not, let’s get it there.

In our Body Wisdom Fertility Clues Quiz, we help you uncover what your symptoms are trying to tell you about your fertility + give you sustainable habits you can start implementing today to start tackling the root of what’s affecting your fertility.

And maybe IVF is still part of your fertility plan– As someone who has had an ovary removed because of an endometrioma, I understand that structural issues are REAL. But if you’re having a lot of other symptoms, this is your body’s way of saying, wait a minute…

Let’s fine tune to not only help you get relief, but also give your body the best chance possible with conception. Especially if you’re literally dropping THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars on something that isn’t even guaranteed to work.

How You Can Start Supporting Your Body for Better Fertility:

1. I’d stop waiting until I was ready to have a baby to start prepping for one. It takes ~100 days for a follicle to mature (what releases your egg each month).That means it can take over 3 months to start seeing the positive changes to your diet + lifestyle REFLECT in your follicle production, ovulation + therefore hormones/cycle quality.
2. I’d give my body TIME (min 3-6 mon) after coming off of hormonal birth control, myfembree or any other meds that can make your hormones “offline”. The pill can also deplete a lot of key vitamins/minerals needed for fertility. So if all your endo symptoms come back full force, this is an invitation from your body to be patient + dig deeper.
3. I'd do these things every single day:
   ✅ Get daily movement + sunshine
   ✅ 3+ nutrient-dense, balanced meals with ~30-40 g of protein
   ✅ Manage stress
   ✅ Eat color/fiber + poop daily
   ✅ Drink you water WITH minerals
   ✅ Prioritize quality sleep
   ✅ Reduce exposure to environmental toxins
4. I'd ditch the crash dieting + ensure I was eating enough to support my body. Dieting = a stressor, and your body needs to feel safe + nourished to support healthy ovulation + conception.
5. Remember, IVF is not the only thing that can be done for infertility. IVF is an amazing tool, but addressing root causes (gut health, nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances) can make a huge difference. For example, some gut pathogens like H. Pylori have been linked to infertility. 
6. Consider working with a functional practitioner. This can help you make sure you’re covering all bases, because like I said earlier, endo is a FULL BODY, chronic + complex disease. It needs a multi-faceted approach and functional labs help us do this.

Here is a blog post I wrote on when to consider functional lab testing for fertility + functional lab tests all women with endo need to know about.

When to Seek Advanced Fertility Care

If you’ve been struggling to conceive or to stay pregnant for months or you have endometriosis, fibroids, adenomyosis, autoimmunity, etc. you could benefit from working with a functional practitioner + having functional lab testing done.

And while the work I do can help tremendously, there are times when we need to collab with fertility specialists, especially in the event of structural issues that could impact fertility.

But if you have endometriosis, I highly recommend consulting with a qualified excision specialist who can perform excision + help to give you the best shot possible at conception. This is why having a healthcare team with endo is crucial.

Conclusion

Fertility struggles with endo can feel so lonely + scary, but you are NOT alone or doomed. You just need the right support. Take our Body Wisdom Fertility Clues Quiz to learn more about where to start

And if you have endo, have been struggling to conceive, and you’re ready to take a deeper dive + full body approach to this disease, this is EXACTLY what we do inside Nourish to Nurture, me + Kyndle Padgett’s 4 month root-cause focused fertility prep program.

Where we not only help you feel like your best self NOW and also help give your body the targeted support it’s literally begging for to help you build your family.

You can learn more about it here! And if you’re feeling called, join the waitlist! Spots will be limited and those on the waitlist will have exclusive access to bonuses/ savings!

Don’t hesitate to shoot me a DM on IG if you have any questions!