hi, im 25 years old and i was diagnosed with endometriosis, i was told i have a year if that, to try and get pregnant. im not married, or ive never been sexually active, and im not going to rush out and meet a guy to just try and get pregnant, so i was wondering, would artificial insemination be ok for me? im sorry if this sounds like an odd question, but i hope someone can answer it for me, thanks!

That is a good question. Did you speak to your RE? Did you have a HSG to make sure that both of your fallopian tubes are patent? I have stage III endo, had surgery and tried IUI and it failed 6 times. I finally had another HSG and found out that my tubes were blocked again. Endometriosis interferes on every level of fertility my RE told me. During my current IVF cycle, I had 18 eggs retrieved and only had 2 embryos make it to 8 cells due to my endometriosis. I am not trying to scare you, but this is my story. Who told you you only had one year? I wish I would have known that I have endo a lot sooner - I am 32. I didn't get married until I was 30 and got off birth control to find out I had horrible cycles. I had to have a laproscopy 2 times to help clear me out and I still had blocked tubes 2 months after. Just be proactive and do what you think is right. Take care-
Consuelo :angel:

Are you saying that your doctor told you that you need to get pregnant within a year? I would highly question that from my doctor. Most will want you to try for a year before going on to any other type of fertility treatments. Have you had surgery for your endometriosis? I have had endo since I was 15 or 16 - I can't remember when, but I have had 3 surgeries and my doctor has never told me that I have a certain amount of time to get pregnant. I had to try for 6 months before moving on to other methods. There are a couple reasons he didn't make us try for a year...one being my age (29 at the time, now 30), also, he knew I had a history of endo and we also have a male factor.

I would seriously have doubts about this doctor if he knows you don't have a significant other and he's telling you that you need to get pregnant within a year. If this is the case, I would consider getting a second opinion, especially if you have not had a laparoscopy to actually diagnose the endo.

~ravae

I'm sorry for the mix up! I asked my roomate, before I left for work, yesterday morning, to type this message on here for me. I guess she typed all she could remember! :nono:

Here is the message I wanted to put here...(sorry again!)

I'm 25, and I've never been sexually active, I've been having symptoms of endo for a few years now, and I went to 3 different doctors who told me it sounds like endo, so they sent me for an ultrasound incase its something else, and if not,theyre going to look into the possibility of the surgery to see if thats whats wrong with me. If I have it, my friend (who has it, and she had the surgery, and her dr told her she has about a year if that before it gets worse, so she got pregnant, now she cant have anymore children) anyway, she told me, as time goes on it gets worse and worse, so I'd love to have atleast one child before its too late (thats if i get diagnosed with it for sure) so i was wondering, with my age and all, if AI, would be ok for me? I'd be able to pay for it and everything, I'm just not sure if a dr would consider it. I'm sorry again for the mix up! I had to read that last message a few times :confused:

I know that endo does get worse as time goes on if you don't treat it. If they are going to do surgery to find out if you have endo, they should be able to get rid of most of it while they are in there. It makes no sense to me to cut you open find out you have it then stitch you back up. I have had 3 surgeries and, oddly enough, my last one had the least amount of endo. My first doctor lasered off the endo, I think at that time it was stage 2, I then did shots of Lupron, which I do not suggest to anyone, as 5 years later I had the surgery again and I had stage 3 endo, which my NEW doctor actually CUT out instead of laser and he did not have me do Lupron and said he sees absolutely no reason for using Lupron for this disease...then 7 years later (notice, longer than the time we used Lupron), I had surgery again and had only stage 1 endo which my doctor (who did the last sugery) was able to remove.

I know this is long, and I apologize, but I wanted to try to get my point across. If you have surgery, they should be able to tame your endo...and, it may come back, but really, you should be able to get it under control before it does any scarring to your tubes, ovaries or uterus. If you wait, it probably will get worse, but when they catch it in time, they can usually find a temporary fix. I had it for a good 3 years before they figured out what was wrong with me but that was 13 years ago and they've come a long way since then.

As for the AI question....I am sure you will have to go through extensive counseling before a doctor will do this for you when you are 25 and without a significant other. They usually want you to try for a year on your own to get pregnant before starting any fertility treatments. I'm not really sure how it works when you are trying to do it alone. I know that there is at least one person on this board (QT314) who is 41 and did IVF on her own with donor sperm, you could page her on the board and ask her what she had to do in order for them to allow her to have a child. I also have a friend of a friend who did IUI (AI) without a sig other, but, again, she is older, in her late 30's.

Do not lose hope....I used to think about not being able to have kids all the time when I was younger...before I was married....I think about it more now, but both my regular gyn as well as my RE have both told me that they have high hopes that I will have a baby soon. I will, of course need help in the process, but, because I had those surgeries and removed the endo each time, they believe I am still able to conceive. Hang in there and don't be in a rush to have a baby - just be in a rush to get your endo under control.

Best of Luck to you!!!!

~ravae

ps - again, sorry this is so long, it's hard to get your point across without explaining yourself.

angel,

Ravae has always had good advice for me. You should truly heed her advice.

As for me, she is right. I am 41 and did IVF on my own....no sig other in my life. I waited a long long long time before going forth. Too long. But I knew I was no where near being ready for a baby when in my 20's. It probably wasn't until I was in my mid 30's before I thought I could do it. But then I had to start to think about doing it on my own. I just haven't met Mr Right.

You should be absolutley sure that you are not only physically and financially ready for a baby, but probably more importantly ...mentally ready for a baby. Just because a doc said you had a year isn't a good reason. I read a book recently that helped me feel at ease with my decision. It was Single Mothers By Choice. I would highly recommend reading it before you make a hasty decision.

My most recent story can be found on the "Sept. IVF" thread. I am now 3 weeks and 4 days pregnant. For me, at my age and all the difficulties of trying to get pg with old eggs, and going through one miscarriage....I'm now counting the days. Not until I have a healthy baby in my arms will I be able to rest comfortably.

this is a difficult journey you want to take. I wish you all the best in the world with whatever decision you make. If it is a baby that you have decided to have, then you have a large network of support here on this site to help you through it.
-Stacey :angel: