PCOS and Infertility – How to get Pregnant with PCOS

Author Dr. Pranay ShahUpdated on October 1, 2020Categories Fertility awareness

What is PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome commonly known as PCOS is a syndrome in women which affects the hormonal levels. PCOS and Infertility are common in most of the women. Women troubled by PCOS have the symptoms like:

1. Cysts in the ovary that interfere with the egg formation:
   Due to PCOS, cysts which can be described as small bags filled with fluids grow inside the ovaries. These small bags contain immature eggs which do not mature in time and hence the ovulation is irregular.
2. Increase in the androgen(the male hormone):
   Due to lack of ovulation, the secretion of the androgen hormone is higher than the secretion of estrogen and progesterone resulting in an uncommon condition of male hormones being more than the female hormones.
3. Irregular ovulation and the menstrual cycle:
   Ovulation is the only time women can conceive and thus, irregular ovulation directly affects conception.

What makes PCOS worse is that it is observed to affect women between the age of 15 to 30 which is the child-bearing age. Hence women with PCOS conditions are prone to infertility and face some complications in either conceiving or during the pregnancy.

What is the treatment of PCOS?

Having said that, having PCOS doesn’t mean that the women cannot be pregnant. There are so many options for taking the right medications to consult an expert from the IVF center in India to get pregnant experience motherhood. Below are some of the way to get pregnant and combating infertility:

1. Take a healthy lifestyle:

   Many of the health issues occur due to an unhealthy lifestyle. But what cannot be ignored is that as an unhealthy lifestyle can cause several issues, a healthy lifestyle can restore health too. This holds true for PCOS also. Adopting a healthy diet, living life in a cycle where you have a defined diet to get the necessary nutrients and exercise regularly helps a lot.
   You can chalk out a diet plan from a dietitian, nutritionist or consult IVF center in India. You can also get an exercise planned defined or practice regular Yoga and control the formation of the cysts in the ovaries.
   It has been observed that appropriate exercise and intake of nutrition have helped women cope with infertility and become pregnant.

2. Medication:

   There are several medical treatments that you can opt for depending on how PCOS has affected your reproductive system.
   
   Metformin treatment:

   To restore the ovulation cycle, doctors often prescribe a drug called metformin. This drug is usually used to treat diabetes to boost insulin secretion. Metformin is said to reduce weight, restore menstrual as well as ovulation cycle, improve the fertility of eggs and also said to reduce the risk of miscarriages.
   
   Clomid treatment:  This is the common drug prescribed by doctors to women suffering from PCOS. The drug is an anti-estrogen drug which is effective in reducing the secretion of male hormone and helps in balancing the hormonal levels. This drug is prescribed to trigger ovulation and thus making the women able to conceive.
   
   Letrozole treatment: Also used in cancer treatment, drug Letrozole is also observed to stimulate ovulation in women.
   
   Gonadotropins treatment: This is an injectable drug treatment. The drug consists of the hormones FSH, LH, or a combination of the two. This injectable treatment is often prescribed in a combination of oral treatment.
   The above-described drugs are one of the most powerful drugs and pose some side effects too hence it is not advised at all to take them without a doctor’s prescription.
   
   

3. IVF treatment:

   Even after medications to rectify infertility due to PCOS if the women cannot conceive through a natural process, In-Vitro fertilization is a treatment in which women can get pregnant artificially. In IVF treatment, the eggs from the women are taken and combined with the sperms taken from her male counterpart. Then it is combined in a plate in the laboratory. After the embryos are formed, they are implanted in the uterus. Apart from the artificial process of conception, the whole pregnancy process is very normal.
   There are a lot of couples who are opting for IVF pregnancy due to its safe nature. To get through this process, you can walk in an IVF center in India and understand the whole process.

4. Borrowing eggs (Donor Egg IVF) or going for a surrogate:

   Many couples think that if a diet plan and medication and IVF treatments all fail, there is no hope that the couple will experience parenthood. Well, it is not true. If the women are unable to produce healthy eggs, she can borrow eggs. After that, she can take the IVF process and get pregnant. If the women have fertile eggs but cannot hold a pregnancy and has risks of miscarriage, she can opt for surrogacy treatment at top surrogacy clinic in India. This way the mother will still be the biological mother while the surrogate delivers the baby. PCOS is not a newly found syndrome, but it is increasing in women due to the changing lifestyle. There are ways to deal with PCOS. If done right, with the right consultation and right guidance, women with PCOS can experience a normal pregnancy.