Obesity—A Disruptor for your Fertility!

• Link Between Obesity & Infertility
• Being obese/overweight can affect your ability to get pregnant
  • Obesity negatively affects hormones 
  • Prevents ovulation 
  • Obesity triggers insulin 
  • Obesity can affect the chances of natural & assisted pregnancy
  • Obesity leads to pregnancy-related complications. 

• Making fertility issues worse

• FAQs

Take Charge of your health 

It is a known fact that being obese or overweight can increase the risk of health complications such as heart diseases and diabetes but most people are unaware that this could also impact an individual’s fertility and the chances of having a healthy baby. 

In fact, obesity is one of the serious causes of fertility struggles.  In 6% of women who have not been pregnant & facing fertility issues due to obesity. Both overweight and underweight can affect your ability to conceive. 

If you are trying to conceive or plan to start trying then the closer you are to a healthy weight, the greater your chances of getting pregnant as well as having a healthy baby. 

Being obese/overweight can affect your ability to get pregnant

Obesity may significantly make it harder to get pregnant. Why? It is a complex dance between the hormones that trigger ovulation and the progesterone and estrogen levels. Fat cells are often responsible for producing higher estrogen levels, which could work against your body, and interface with ovulation. 

While out-of-balance hormone levels do not always mean that you will have trouble getting pregnant. You might experience irregular ovulation and menstrual cycles that make it harder to conceive.

Major ways how Obesity affects female fertility

Body fat distribution plays a pivotal role in the development of obesity-related health complications. Excess fat stores around the abdomen is a higher risk factor for diseases than fat stored on the bottom, hips, & thighs. It seems that androgens and estrogens help to decide body fat distribution. Estrogens are sex hormones produced by the ovaries in premenopausal women and they are responsible for inducing ovulation every menstrual cycle. 

With the age, the changes in the sex hormone levels of both men & women are associated with the changes in body fat accumulation and weight gain. When the BMI (Body Mass Index) goes above 25-29.9 and hovers around the obese region then there would be a high possibility of hormonal changes occurring in the body. Hence, when there are more hormonal imbalances, the chances of conception also decrease as a result. 

• Prevents ovulation 

Ovaries produce the female hormone estrogen and fat cells also have the ability to produce estrogen. As you gain weight, your fat cells also grow and release more amounts of estrogen. Too much natural estrogen levels can make the body assume that you are taking hormonal birth control with estrogens like the contraceptive pill, shot, or vaginal ring, or even may assume that you are already pregnant. This could prevent you from having a monthly period and ovulation.  

• Obesity triggers insulin resistance 

Obesity is linked with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. As mentioned above, an imbalance in the hormone levels due to overweight or obesity can subsequently lead to diabetes. 

Insulin resistance occurs when liver cells and muscle fat don’t respond efficiently to insulin, making it more arduous for the cells to absorb the glucose from the bloodstream. That in turn leads to increased blood glucose levels and also higher production of insulin.

Apart from increased insulin can cause diabetes, insulin resistance can have an impact on your fertility and can potentially create unusual menstrual cycles. 

• Obesity can affect the chances of natural & assisted pregnancy

It is mere fact that women who are obese find it difficult to conceive regardless of whether it is a natural or assisted pregnancy using advanced reproductive technologies such as IVF. Moreover, obesity can also increase the risk of miscarriage. 

It even prevents fertility treatments from working and it can lower your chances of conception with IVF fertility treatments. 

• Obesity leads to pregnancy-related complications. 

There are higher chances of complicated pregnancy in women who are obese. Various other health complications might also occur due to obesity, which includes:

• gestational diabetes
• preeclampsia
• infection 
• miscarriage 
• hypertension
• blood clotting, etc. 

 In addition, obesity during the time of pregnancy can result in sleep apnea. Increased fatigue, high blood pressure, lung and heart disorders, etc. are some of the complicated problems related to obesity and pregnancy.

Babies born to obese mothers are at a higher risk of health issues, including:

• Neural tube defects, such as spina bifida
• Heart defects 
• Low blood sugar & larger body size, if the mother has gestational diabetes 
• High cholesterol & type II diabetes 

Making fertility issues worse

Obesity and infertility can have a weird relationship. It is difficult to tell which one caused the other. For instance, stress can be experienced in couples who are having a long fertility journey and it just not only causes irregular periods but also leads to “stress eat”- which means that they binge on food during stressful times.

Then there are health conditions such as PCOS-Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a hormonal disorder that could cause ovarian cysts, and eventually, lead to severe infertility. While the exact causes of PCOS are unknown, one major side effect is obesity. The National Infertility Association states that obesity is ttthe most common symptom among PCOS patients, affecting 50-60% of women with PCOS condition may be worse if a woman is overweight or obese. 

Obesity and fertility in Men

Obesity or overweight in men may be associated with changes in testosterone and other important reproduction hormone levels. Low sperm count and low sperm motility (movement of sperms) have been found more often in obese men than in normal-weight men. 

Healthy weight loss in men who are obese could significantly improve total sperm-count and quality. Reaching a healthier at least 3 months prior to conception can increase the chance of conception. 

Take Charge of your health

Sometimes addressing fertility issues starts with attaining healthy body weight. Losing excess weight seems to be a simple concept, but in practice, it is not always easy. If changing your diet, lifestyle, and exercising haven’t worked, you can talk to fertility nutritionists. It might be worth considering if you:

Are more than 45 kgs above your ideal weight

Have weight-related issues such as type II diabetes or high blood pressure and any irregular menstrual cycles and PCOS-related fertility issues.

Think about obesity, if it is the underlying cause of your fertility issues, it is best to address them before undergoing fertility treatments.

MotherToBe IVF clinic in Hyderabad is regarded as the best fertility center in offering a vast range of infertility treatments along with holistic care. Talk to our fertility doctors, nutritionists who can help you plan a healthy diet, create smart and sustainable lifestyle choices and increase your chances of getting pregnant, having a healthy baby, and beyond. book an appointment