Infertility Worry - How much time may I have?

[Lexmerrie]

Hi,

To give you a bit of background to this thread, I am 23 years old (24 end of this year) and I have had gynae issues since 16. I have been diagnosed with PCOS and I am currently self-isolating in preparation for surgery on Thursday for a Hysteroscopy, Polypectomy and D & C due to my consultant identifying on an ultra-sound a thicker than normal endometrial lining and severe menstrual bleeding.

I am not only stressed and quite frankly terrified of having this surgery, but to add I am worrying constantly that I may find it very difficult/if not impossible to conceive naturally. I am in a steady relationship with my Fiancé with us getting married in May 2022!

Do you think it would be reasonable of me to ask my gynae consultant on Thursday whether I have time to wait until 28 - 30 years old to start TTC or whether we need to start sooner due to my gynae complications. Last thing I want is to leave it too late and then devastatingly miss the boat per say on having children.

Would really appreciate any advice!

Thanks x

He may be able to give you a rough timeline but to be honest there are soooo many factors affecting fertility and I know plenty of people who sound like they had the same issue as yours who thought they'd struggle to get pregnant and behaved.....recklessly.... Lo and behold they got pregnant straight away

A leading infertility consultant has recently though said that women should start trying to conceive age 28 if they want one child or age 23 if they want more than one! But plenty of women on MN are examples of falling pregnant easily in their Late 30s and 40s

@ivfbeenbusy

He may be able to give you a rough timeline but to be honest there are soooo many factors affecting fertility and I know plenty of people who sound like they had the same issue as yours who thought they'd struggle to get pregnant and behaved.....recklessly.... Lo and behold they got pregnant straight away

A leading infertility consultant has recently though said that women should start trying to conceive age 28 if they want one child or age 23 if they want more than one! But plenty of women on MN are examples of falling pregnant easily in their Late 30s and 40s

Thank you, hopefully he will be able to provide a loose estimation to what he thinks although I completely understand like you said, it is such a complex issue unfortunately! Fingers crossed I get more clarity on Thursday!

No ones gonna be able to tell you what's right and no. Doctor will tell you it's fine because they don't know. With fertility the younger the better but you also have to balance that against what's right for you and when you're ready.

Generally fertility starts to decline at 30 and more so at 35 so in all liklihood 25 or 28 shouldn't make much difference. But there's no guaretee

I'd echo what PPs have said about not being able to tell. I'm good on paper: ovulated monthly, regular periods, no health issues, good BMI and all fertility testing came back good. When I went the doctors about my obvious infertility in my 20s they confidently sent me away after the blood tests with "it will happen". It didn't. Meanwhile, all of my friends with irregular periods, health complications, PCOS, endometriosis etc fell pregnant with ease. I mean literally every single one and at the time I was the only infertile person I knew.

That's not to say you shouldn't ask, but there's just no guarantees either way. I also don't think late 20s is at all late for the majority of women (in the absence of a condition like diminished ovarian reserve).

@Yokey same. We passed our fertility tests with flying colours (especially me despite being older than him). But nothing. Nearly 3 years in and about to have our 2nd round of IVF -got nowhere with the 1st round