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With endometriosis, pelvic pain, period pain, heavy periods, and difficulty conceiving are common. But even if you have a diagnosis of endometriosis, you can likely still conceive and have a healthy pregnancy.
It’s estimated that about 75% of women with pelvic pain have endometriosis.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women in the United States. Though not always, endometriosis and infertility are often linked. In fact, endometriosis is found in up to 70% of women with unexplained fertility issues—even in cases where there’s no pelvic pain or obvious symptoms.
You can count on us for endometriosis education and empathy.
Endometriosis is classified into one of four stages (I-minimal, II-mild, III-moderate, and IV-severe). The stage that you’re in depends on a few factors: the location, extent, and depth of endometriosis implants; the presence and severity of adhesions; and the presence and size of ovarian endometriomas, or what are called “chocolate cysts.” Most women have stage I or II endometriosis and may or may not have fertility challenges. Infertility is common with stage IV.
There’s a misconception that minimal endometriosis means minimal pain. That’s not true. Whatever stage you’re in, we’ll listen to, understand, and empathize with your experience.
You can have stage I endometriosis and lots of symptoms or stage IV without many symptoms.
Patients under age of 35 with stage III to IV endometriosis have approximately an 80% pregnancy success rate with IVF when transferring 1 embryo; compared to the national average of 50% when transferring 2 embryos.Samuel Brown, MD,
Brown Fertility Medical Director
Symptoms may point us toward endometriosis, but an official diagnosis is surgical. If laparoscopic excision surgery is something that’s part of your diagnosis and treatment plan, we’d make a small incision near your bellybutton to check for and carefully remove endometrial lesions both above and below the surface they’re growing on. Usually, this is an outpatient surgery. But because everyone’s different, we’ll always go over every last detail with you, so you know what to expect.
Depending on your endometriosis, your treatment plan may look a little different than someone else’s—and that’s how it should be. In general, fertility medications and treatments increase your ability to conceive. Our team will develop a custom treatment plan that’s right for you.
Find out how Brown Fertility can help you write your own fertility success story.
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