Uterine Fibroids: What You Need to Know
If you’re a woman who suffers from extreme pain in your pelvic area and experience heavy menstrual bleeding, then you might have uterine fibroids in your uterus.
Fibroids are considered to be tumors but they’re not cancerous. Almost always, they are benign tumors.
However, they can cause a great deal of pain for women who have them. They can also make becoming pregnant extremely difficult. Because uterine fibroids can also cause other forms of infertility, it’s important to get checked out by your doctor to determine if you’re suffering from the condition.
This article will discuss uterine fibroids and whether or not they can affect your chances of becoming pregnant.
Uterine Fibroids: An Overview
Uterine fibroids are considered to be muscular tumors. They grow within the wall of the uterus. This condition is also sometimes called leiomyoma or myoma. The size of the tumors can range anywhere from that of an apple to that of a grapefruit. In rare cases, the tumors can become even larger than that. Clearly, the larger that they are, the more painful they may be.
Uterine fibroids can be extremely common, unfortunately.
Around 20%-80% of women may develop fibroids by the time that they reach the age of 50. Most commonly, the condition occurs by the time the woman reaches her 40s or 50s. For those who are struggling with infertility, uterine fibroids may be to blame, especially if you’re already an older woman attempting to have children.
The range of symptoms that you experience varies from woman to woman.
Some receive no symptoms. Others have extreme pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Depending on where the fibroids are growing, they can even sometimes push down on the bladder.
This can cause you to feel as though you need to urinate frequently and likely have to use the bathroom a lot. The same goes if the fibroids are applying pressure to the rectal area.
Finally, if the fibroids are especially large, then it might cause the stomach area to expand or bloat. You might look as though you’re pregnant.
The causes of uterine fibroids are still unknown.
Researchers currently believe that there are two main factors that are involved. Those are hormones and genetics.
In regards to hormones, it is likely tied with estrogen and progesterone levels. In regards to genetics, since a higher prevalence is shown in women whose mothers also had uterine fibroids, there may be some undiscovered gene that carries it.
Uterine Fibroids: Those At Risk
Because uterine fibroids can be the cause of infertility like tubal factor infertility, you may be wondering if you’re at risk of developing fibroids. You can always check in at a fertility clinic to have them inspect the womb and look for fibroids.
Here are a few factors that may increase your risk of developing fibroids:
#1. Age
As you become older, you are more likely to have fibroids form and affect your fertility. However, the fibroids may decrease and disappear once you have reached menopause. At that stage, however, women trying to become pregnant will find it virtually impossible themselves. They’ll need to find a surrogate in order to have a biological child.
#2. Family history of fibroids
If you happen to know that your mother experienced fibroids, then you are three times as likely to develop them.
Interestingly, fibroids seem to affect African-American women more so than white women. So, if you are African-American, then you are at risk of developing fibroids.
#3. Weight
Women who are obese contain a higher likelihood of developing fibroids.
#4. Eating habits
For some reason, eating habits may also be a factor in determining whether or not you’ll have fibroids. Those who eat a lot of red meat like beef or ham have been shown to have a higher incidence of developing fibroids. Yet when eating green vegetables, they seem to be protected from developing fibroids.
Where Fibroids Grow
Based on where the fibroids grow in the body can determine how potent your fertility is.
There are different names given to fibroids based on where they grow in the uterus:
- Submucosal– This term is given to fibroids that grow within the uterine cavity, inside the womb, essentially.
- Intramural– These are fibroids that grow within the wall of the uterus and are the most common type of fibroids.
- Subserosal– These are fibroids that grow outside of the uterus.
- Pedunculated– This describes fibroids that grow outside of the uterus but then push into the uterus cavity or into the surface of the uterus. They frequently resemble mushrooms.
Fibroids and Infertility
For women who are attempting to become pregnant but aren’t having much success, the reason may be due to fibroids.
It can cause blockages to occur of essential processes that make it impossible for conception to occur.
One of the conditions that it can cause is tubal factor infertility. When fibroids cause the tissue to form within the fallopian tube and block it, the woman is said to be suffering from tubal factor infertility. The ovum is unable to pass through the fallopian tube.
As a result, the sperm has nothing to fertilize. Those who suffer from TFI should find a surrogate in order to have a baby. They have been checked thoroughly by a fertility clinic to ensure that they are healthy enough to carry your baby. It will limit the risk and health of the intended mother who suffers from TFI and still gives her the opportunity of being a mother to her own baby.
Approximately 5%-10% of women who are considered to be infertile have fibroids.
While having them does not always guarantee the need for surrogacy in California, most women who utilize a surrogate mother because they have fibroids will ensure that their baby is grown safely with a woman who has a history of healthy pregnancies.
How Do Fibroids Affect Fertility?
There are many ways in which fibroids can affect fertility.
The clumps of tissue can affect the size of the cervix. This, in turn, can determine just how many sperm cells are received. Even the shape of the uterus which is changed by fibroids can alter the movement of sperm cells. This makes it more difficult for the sperm cells to locate an egg to fertilize.
Unfortunately, it is an issue that compounds in difficulty for conception.
Even something as simple as blood flow can be altered. This is an important part of the fertilization process. The blood allows the embryo to stick to the uterine wall in order to develop.
Without the blood able to reach the embryo, it can never start development.
Fibroids and Miscarriages
Perhaps the biggest problem that uterine fibroids present is its role in recurrent miscarriages.
This is one of many reasons why a woman should find a surrogate is because of the threat of a miscarriage. A fertility clinic can’t do much to prevent a miscarriage if you have uterine fibroids. It’s entirely a biological process.
Surrogacy, however, can be a way to ensure that your baby develops with a greater chance than it would within your own body because your surrogate mother will inevitably not have these issues.
Fibroids account for up to 5% of being infertile and women miscarrying.
The location of the fibroid is the ultimate culprit. One that grows near the middle of the uterus, for example, is more likely to result in a miscarriage. Those that grow into the cavity and those that already exist within the cavity are also likely to cause a miscarriage.
Size also plays a factor in the likelihood of miscarrying. The larger it is, the more blood it takes away from the embryo.
Uterine Fibroids and Stillborn Babies
You may not have known, but fibroids can also increase the chances of your baby being born stillborn.
The study showed that women with fibroids were two and a half times more likely to have their baby born stillborn!
This is a horrible statistic, but it is true. It doesn’t have to be this way- you can still use a surrogate in California and a trusted surrogate agency such as ours located in California.
Surrogacy in California
Clearly, uterine fibroids can cause a lot of problems for intended parents.
However, those who suffer from uterine fibroids don’t have to give up on their dreams of having biological children!
All you need to do is find a surrogate through using our surrogate agency in Sacramento. You will use your fertility clinic to develop an embryo and go through in-vitro fertilization or IVF with your surrogate. T
his process removes eggs from the egg donor and sperm from the sperm donor if you and your significant other are unable to develop a healthy embryo because of this condition. The egg and sperm are united until embryo formation. This embryo is then placed within the surrogate mother who does not have fibroids for development.
The use of in-vitro fertilization and a surrogate mother is an excellent solution for an egg donor and a sperm donor, or the intended parents, to have a biological child.
Since a surrogate mother is screened before in-vitro fertilization begins to ensure that her womb is ready to receive the embryo, intended parents can be sure that their baby is growing within a womb free of uterine fibroids.
In fact, IVF and surrogacy can be a great solution for any couple who is suffering from any form of infertility.
Although some women may think that they are healthy enough to conceive a child even if they suffer from uterine fibroids, they really need to think about the risk of miscarriage that fibroids present. Pregnancy isn’t just about being able to become pregnant. It’s about being able to develop and grow that baby full-term.
If you’ve been diagnosed with uterine fibroids, then you might want to consider IVF and surrogacy as a means of receiving your own healthy child.
Clearly, IVF and using a surrogate mother is worth the investment over experiencing the heartbreak of dealing with uterine fibroids and the effects on child development.
If you and your loved one are suffering from uterine fibroids, please contact us today to find a surrogate!
