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Infertility

Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

Does anyone have experience of surgery for endometriosis before IVF?

4 replies

beautyisfoundwithin · 27/09/2021 16:12

I've recently been diagnosed with endometriosis (from 2 separate vaginal ultrasounds at a fertility clinic DH & I were referred to, I haven't had a laparoscopy yet). We have also been advised it's very unlikely we'll conceive naturally and they strongly recommend we go for IVF, possibly ICSI. (My endometriosis is not the only issue, DH has low sperm motility).

Our doctor at the clinic has raised the option of surgery to treat the endometriosis but has said it's my decision and due to my specific problems it's not an easy decision to make. He was very helpful, listed all the pros and cons but said he cannot say either way whether I should have it or not and recommended I find a specialist endometriosis surgeon to discuss it with in more detail before making a decision.

It's quite long winded to explain everything but as a short summary one of my ovaries is attached to my uterus and is hidden behind it, and I have several endometriomas, there is also potential blockage of my Fallopian tubes. The biggest pro would be better access to my ovary for egg collection if it was separated from my uterus and back in its rightful place (although he admitted he doesn't know if access would be a problem without trying and it might not be possible for the surgeon to separate the two anyway...) The biggest con would be the potential damage to my ovaries/egg reserve.

So, after that long winded post (sorry, and thank you to anyone who's read it all!) I'm basically looking for anyone who's had experience with endometriosis surgery for the specific purpose of having IVF, or I suppose people in a similar situation who chose not to have the surgery.

OP posts:
AttilaTheMeerkat · 27/09/2021 16:30

I would certainly agree with the recommendation that was made to you to find a specialist endometriosis surgeon to discuss it in more detail before making a decision.

You need to go to a BSGE centre www.bsge.org.uk/centre/

Porridgeislife · 27/09/2021 16:51

I have, successfully - happy for you to message me.

Echoing Attila that you must have your surgery done by a BGSE surgeon/centre which almost definitely won’t be your IVF consultant. Fertility consultants are trained in minimal access surgery but endo surgery is very hard to do well.

beautyisfoundwithin · 27/09/2021 17:41

Thank you both for your replies. I should have mentioned that I'm not in the UK, I live in Germany. But the advice is very useful nonetheless as I'm sure there's an equivalent organisation/accreditation here, I'll look into it.

The process here is I need to ask my gynaecologist for her recommendation of where to go (which I plan to do ASAP but it turns out she's on holiday at the moment) but my IVF consultant was very firm about only considering a top specialist so I plan to do my own research too in case she doesn't recommend a place I feel comfortable with.

Thank you also for your offer to message you @Porridgeislife, glad to hear yours was successful. I will try to organise my thoughts into more specific questions and then I'll definitely take you up on the offer!

It's all a bit overwhelming to be honest, I wasn't expecting this diagnosis, and added to learning we'll definitely need IVF to conceive it's all been a lot to get our heads around, but I'm sure you know exactly what I mean having been through it!

OP posts:
bluepixie · 28/09/2021 17:37

I have a few friends with endo who had surgery for it and ended up not needing ivf. They did go to super specialist surgeons who were excellent in their field. Even if that’s not the case always it will help ur egg quality and improve chances of implantion as less inflammatory with less endo.
Good luck!

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