Was Anyone Able to Get Pregnant with Stage 4 Endometriosis?

I would second what Susan M. said about the Pope Paul the VI Institute. I do not have endometriosis, but had some difficulty getting pregnant due to PCOS. I found a doctor locally who is very familiar with their methods and was wonderful in helping me get on the road to getting pregnant. I also called the Pope Paul the VI Institute for help and they were very knowledgeable. If you can make the trip, do it. My mother-in-law used to work with women who had a difficult time getting pregnant for a variety of reasons and several of them went there with good results. By the way, I believe they have a Catholic affiliation, but don't feel like you have to be Catholic to work with them.

I'm sorry to hear about that. My sister has very severe endometriosis and the doctor told her that getting pregnant will help her but that she would most likely have trouble getting pregnant. She got pregnant pretty quickly. It helped her endo while she was pregnant but now her "baby" is 6 and her pain came right back after her pregnancy. She had to have a lot of surgeries. Good luck, I hope you're able to get pregnant really soon! Hugs and prayers!

During your surgeries, were your ovaries damaged? Or perhaps the surgeon could not remove all of the lesion/scar tissue from the cyst? Were your tubes blocked with scar tissue?

If none of the above happened, I don't know why you would not be able to get pregnant. Of course, your docs must know something or they would not recommend going with IVF right away, especially with egg donation.

I had stage IV. It was bad. After my 2nd surgery in 4 months, my gyno cleared me for getting pregnant. Hahahahaha... what I mean is that she said that now is the time. She recommended that I take Clomid, and she explained how I should expect that it would make my endo symptoms worse. (I think you know what I mean when I say that this was, uh... counterproductive ;) Well, we opted not to do that. It was an easy decision for us to skip the fertility treatments. Our grief was over, and I wanted to feel better, not worse! We were ready for the next chapter. 4 months later, we signed on with an adoption agency.

We've never been happier with our decision. Even the adoption process seemed smooth for us because of our outlook: "this was meant to be." If you choose this route for your family, I wish you this very peace and joy.

After having surgery to remove my endometriosis my dr. told me that I would most likely have about 3 months that getting preg. would be possible. The first month was out to much pain. After the third month I was about to give up when I found out that I was going to have a baby. That baby was a boy and is now 28 and in the service.

Try the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. They specialize in fixing your body so that you can get pregnant yourself. I had laperoscopy for my endometriosis and was able to conceive on my own. We drove from Austin to Omaha and stayed in a hotel with a kitchen, etc.

Pope Paul VI Institute
6901 Mercy Rd
Omaha, Nebraska 68106
###-###-####
fax ###-###-####
www.popepaulvi.com

Good luck.

Hi E.,
I have just recently responded to a similar question on endometriosis. You may want to do a search and read replies to endo-related questions on Mamapedia.
I also had severe endo and after a long journey, was able to get pregnant. I am not sure if I will be able to get pregnant again though. We will have to try and see...
My advice would be to find a doctor expert in endo and get all the tissues (both endo and any scar tissue from previous surgeries) cleaned really well, and try again. I think there is a lot about psychology that affects a woman's well being and conceiving, so I would work on that area as well...
I was curious, if you did not already have endo when you got pregnant with your first child?
Good luck with whatever you chose for your family!

E. W. I know your pain. My husband and I are in the same situation. We have one son. We got pregnant with him in 2 tries. We started trying again when he turned 1, thinking that it would happen again quickly, and not expecting it to turn into the long, difficult journey it has become. I never realized just how much we were blessed when I was pregnant with our son, and women never will know how much they are blessed until they have trouble like we've gone through. After one year of trying and having some pain, I had a laparoscopy, revealing some endometriosis. I think our chances would be so much better if I could just calm down and forget about it, but I get so stressed. That has been two years ago, and I tried to go on birth control in November to maybe help with the pain and cysts. I tried that for 6 months, but my hormones are out of whack and the pills had my cycles so messed up I had to quit them. So we are seeing a reproductive endocrinologist now, and have just started trying again last month. And this is turning into money we don't have, because we are a one income family as well. So I don't know where we'll go from here. We've talked about adoption, too. So we'll just see what happens from here and pray the the Good Lord to help us through whatever it is that is supposed to be. The only other thing I will say is I am also talking to a natural healthcare provider/pharmacist who recommends me doing a saliva test to check for estrogen dominance. Estrogen pretty much feeds endometriosis, and if your hormones are out of whack, there are supplements and things you can take to hopefully get things back where they need to be. He said your hormones out of whack can cause all these problems. I don't know if you have heard of Endovan either, but it is a website I came upon that claims to "dissolve" endometriosis. The supplement Nattokinase in it is what is supposed to break it down. I am kind of skeptical, but I would be willing to give it a try; I have nothing else to loose at this point. I asked my healthcare provider and he said there is nothing in it that will hurt you and that the main 2 ingredients that will help are the Nattokinase and Vitex (Chasteberry). So anyway, I hope this helps in some way, and hoping and praying that we will have that baby brother or sister one day! Oh, and one more thing, on your question...I do know that women with endometriosis can get pregnant...and I know of a few...one friend of mine who has had it bad since a teenager and gone through 2 surgeries and treatments and is now married and just found out she's expecting (after 2 tries) so you just never know and sometimes I think doctors just really don't know either. I hope this helps :)

I have stage 3 endo with pcos. I found a doctor in The Woodlands who was one of the initial doctors that came up with the diagnosis of endometriosis. After doing extensive surgery he found that my infertility was due to doctors not removing all the tissue. It had completely blocked my fallopian tubes. Needless to say a few months later I got pregnant and I currently have a beautiful 7 month old son. Call Dr. Jon Rawson and tell them that R. referred you. Let him exam you and give you his opinion before thinking about IVFs.

I had stage III endometriosis and had a laparoscopy done as well as a D&C. They cleared out lots of fibroids and cysts and then scheduled me for artificial insemination. Two weeks after the laparoscopy I had to cancel the AI because I had gotten pregnant! When we tried for #2 it happened exactly the same way. Doc said that the first cycle after surgery when everything is clear greatly increases chances of pregnancy. Every cycle after that continues to build up blockages that prevent pregnancy. If you continue to try I would recommend a D&C and/or laparoscopy first. If doc recommends egg donation with IVF, maybe there is more involved than endometriosis? I have numerous friends who have chosen adoption, and it is a wonderful blessing, although another long, difficult process. I would encourage you to begin the process now if it is something you might think about conceivably doing in the next few years. If you get pregnant, you can always put the process on hold and pick it up again when you're ready. Good luck!