PCOS - should I start TTC sooner?

[angrygoat2]

I am in my late 20s and was diagnosed with PCOS last year. This was discovered during an ultrasound scan of my ovaries and later confirmed by blood tests.

My gynecologist said I shouldn't worry about my fertility at this point in time, and all the reading I've done confirms that while getting pregnant might not be easy, it's certainly possible. However, a family member who is a doctor gently suggested that it might be a good idea to start trying sooner rather than later. Fwiw this was very much solicited advice from someone I trust, not a meddling relative.

I am in a great long term relationship, and DP and I have previously discussed having kids - however, we always assumed it would be in our mid-to-late-30s, i.e. several years off.

Lately I've been starting to think I might want to start TTC sooner than this, to allow for extra time if it's not an easy journey. I'm not sure if that's sensible or paranoid?

I've mentioned this to DP and he's been understanding and receptive, but I realize it's asking a lot to bring our life plans forward by a few years, and I don't want to jump the gun.

I know I've already had two medical opinions, but I'd be really keen to hear people's thoughts and personal experiences on this as well. Thank you.

I had the same diagnosis in my mid-late 20’s, and had exactly the same conversation with my then partner (now husband). I had been told I would likely have trouble conceiving but ultimately we decided to wait as we weren’t sure at that time what we wanted - but knew if it happened immediately we didn’t feel ‘ready’.
We are now married with two children, and we conceived easily- despite the prognosis. I’m glad we waited.
Only you and your partner can decide but would you be ready if it happened the first month of trying…then go from there :-)

Personally, as someone who has had real trouble conceiving, I wouldn't wait until my late 30s to start trying, even my mid 30s.
Unfortunately our fertility really declines after 35 and a woman with no known cause of infertility can really struggle, let alone those who have gynaecological issues.
I am 39 and 9 months pregnant. I also have a 5 year old and let me tell you the process has been far from easy- I suffer from endometriosis and borderline PCOS. I didn't meet my now husband until I was 28 and it took fertility treatment to conceive my 1st and after 7 rounds of fertility to have my second and in a month I had a break from treatment, I conceived naturally which my gynaecologist through was an absolute miracle. Any woman will tell you fertility treatment is extremely stressful, mentally, emotionally and often financially as you can be waiting for NHS an awful long time and a lot just end up going privately as they don't have time on their side and are willing to pay, it can cost thousands.
This is of course just my lived experience and every woman's experience to the route to conception is unique and personal to them. Whatever you choose to do is totally your decision and you know best for your situation.
What maybe an option is to go for a thorough gynaecological examination and see what your egg reserves etc are like. Track your periods and ovulation and you'll get a good idea of what is going on. Also let your partner go for a full detailed sperm analysis (the best is done privately as those tests are far more in depth than what they do on the NHS). This way you know where you both stand and are armed with knowledge to go further, whatever route that maybe. X

I wasn't diagnosed with the syndrome, but I do have polycystic ovaries and a very short luteal phase so was told I might struggle to conceive. DH and I started TTC early as a result of this and I fell pregnant in the first month (I was 25). It was a surprise but not an issue, but worth being aware that it could happen immediately for you.

I personally wouldn't leave TTC until mid to late thirties anyway, particularly not if you're aware that there might be an issue. Fertility does decline and if having children is important to you then I think it's leaving quite a lot to chance by leaving it until fairly late in terms of female fertility, although I recognise that it's a growing trend, I also know a lot of people who have left it late and then struggled to conceive and I think that's made a difficult situation all the more stressful by the knowledge that time isn't necessarily on their side.

Don’t rely on this but some research suggests PCOS sufferers actually don’t have the same decline in fertility www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4447787/

However, would you regret waiting and it not happening more than you would regret it happening straight away? There’s never a perfect time pcos or not

I have PCOS. Was ok getting pregnant first time but took a long time for second but I was slightly overweight, literally as soon as I dropped down to pre pregnancy weight I conceived though.
Might be a good idea if you don't already to track your cycles closely for length of each phase, regularity, clear ovulation etc. It should give you an idea of whether PCOS is affecting your fertility.

I think it has a lot to do with how your PCOS effects you. Sometimes people with PCOS can have trouble ovulating and then that is why they struggle with fertility.

My sister has it and conceived twice with no issue. I also got pregnant (in my early 30s) very easily, but didn’t not get diagnosed with PCOS until after my daughter was born and my periods went loopy.

It’s a hard one, but perhaps if you are not ready for babies yet, you could find a middle ground so start trying in 2 years time rather than 5 yrs
A lot can change in that time so if you’re not ready yet worth hitting pause for a little while at least.

I was obese (still am) and 38 with a diagnosis of PCOS. We assumed it would take a long time to conceive.
It didn't, the first time we didn't use condoms we conceived.

I assume we were lucky.

I think it depends how it affects your body and how much of an impact it will have on you to not have children if you leave it too long and age becomes a factor too.

Are your cycles regular or irregular? Do you go months and months without periods? Or does everything seem ok in that respect?

If they are irregular I would spend some time trying to track your cycles and find out what is going on. If you are using hormonal contraceptives I would stop using them and let your body restore itself in preparation.

For me personally I knew I wanted to be a mother and I would be completely devastated to not be able to. I knew I was with my partner for life and he also felt the same about becoming a parent so we started to try immediately and it took two years. It was a very worrying time knowing we had a medical problem to contend with and not just 'normal' trying to conceive, but we got there and compared to other couples it was no time atall. I was early twenties and I couldn't have waited knowing my body wasn't on my side with fertility.

I would also add it depends (for me) what your life plans are. What is the reason you are putting off children till later?

Wanting to get in a few more adult holidays etc and just wanting a bit longer to go out freely just the two of you, I wouldn't wait.

Nearly on the property ladder, want to set up your own home, not in a good financial position, it would be sensible to hold off until this kind of stuff is sorted.

Wow - thank you!!! So much to think about - you brought up a lot of comments/ideas/questions I now realize I hadn't been aware of, or hadn't properly entertained.

Please don't be offended that I'm not replying individually; I have read each of your posts with great interest and have a lot to think about and discuss with DP, as well as the gynecologist when I go in for my next annual checkup in a few weeks.

It's definitely thrown up a lot of "big" questions and I might post again when I've sorted through my thoughts a bit more, but good night for now!

I had pcos from my 20s. Fertility rapidly declines from mid-30s so I decided to try from early 30s. I took care of my health, it took 6 months. I think it also depends how many kids you think you want. Not everyone can get two year spacing or wants it, so if you want 2 kids definitely early 30s if you can.

PCOS at least the insulin resistant one may affect egg quality. Even though you think you're healthy otherwise many things may be uncovered when TTC.

I would start at early 30's. Moreover, if you're on a stable relationship.

I haven't read all the replies so sorry if I'm repeating them.

First, keep the pcos under control as much as you can. Take inositol supplements, and keep to a healthy weight. I conceived easily twice with pcos doing this. Obviously it's not a magic bullet, but it's enormously helpful.

Second, assuming you're not on the pill, you could track your cycles now, to check that you do actually ovulate each month. With pcos this is most of the battle. Get the Fertility Friend app, and take your temp each morning - after ovulation it goes up. There's more to it than that, but Fertility Friend have a guide, and there are lots of helpful threads on the MN conception board. If you do ovulate regularly that would be pretty reassuring.

I'll add that I read books about pcos nutrition and this has helped. They highlight the importance of minimising sugar and having protein with meals. If you haven't looked into this first, I highly recommended before going onto something like inositol.