My husband and I are starting to talk about starting a family. Ideally we would start in about a year when he is finished with his MBA. I am currently 31 but will be 32 when we start. I know age plays a factor...BUT, I now realize I may have other problems other than just age. When I was 26 I had a lap to remove a cyst. While the doctor removed the cyst, they apparently also "scraped" some endometriosis. The doctor told my Mom this once the operation was completed and said the endo was minor. Apparently so minor that it was never actually told or explained to me at my post op.

At the time I thought nothing of it because neither did my doctor, and I wasn't experiencing endo symptoms. Now that I am thinking about a family, I am starting to wonder if I am going to have any problems. I know none of you have a crystal ball...but am I screwed? From what I read, 80% of women have endo that is progressive and the older we get, the likelihood of conception drops even further with endo.

This may be TMI, but I had a lot of unprotected sex as a dumb college student. At the time I thought was invincible...but now I am wondering if I am infertile because I probably should have gotten pregnant. God I was dumb back then...

The only way for you to know for sure is to try. My mom had endo, really bad infact. They told her she would never have kids. After they had tried for 6 years they decided to adopt. However; she got pregnant with me, then 3 more times after that. There is always hope. I had a friend who had the worse endo you can get. She had both external and internal endo. The dr's told her she would never naturally concive. The first pregnancy was helped along by drs. After the first kid they thought they wouldn't have any more, but she got pregnant on her own the second time. There is always hope. Maybe you were just lucky as a college student. It all depends where the endo is. It runs in my family and all the females who have it also have had kids. Don't give up hope just yet. If you are concerned you can talk to your dr and also research online. I will be thinking of you and best luck!

It's none of my business, of course, but why wait until your husband is done with his degree? There's never going to be a perfect time to start a family, and it's always going to be a major life-change/challenge no matter where you are in life. Seeing as you have this concern, I'd recommend just getting started. I know too many people who put off trying only to then realize it wasn't going to be as easy as they thought and biological time was clicking away. As for finishing a degree while having kids, my wife and I had two kids while she was working on her Ph.D - and somehow we managed to get by. She even graduated.

Hi, I understand your stress. I am 30 and my husband and I are just now trying (I had a miscarriage last year) and it is not going too well. But really, I would not worry at all about the endo. My cousin had severe endometriosis. They said she may never concieve, but she did almost right away. Unfortunately, that one was a tubal pregnancy, that often happens with endo. However, she got pregnant again just a few months later, had a healthy daughter and another daughter followed less than two years later. I know it's stressful, but I feel very sure you have nothing to worry about. Good luck!

Thank you all for your kind and thoughtful remarks. I know I need to stay positive and not operate from fear. I have a tendency to do that.

We just decided that we want to have kids. Honestly, I have been on the fence until now. I am not super career woman either...rather I lost my Father at 13 and I have a hard time forming attachments. Children seemed like too much of an emotional risk and I was afraid I would be a lousy Mother.

Since we just decided this week, I don't want to start now. Deciding was a very huge step for me in this process...a process I do not take lightly at all. There is no perfect time and there may be some factors that may prevent a pregnancy, but I need to do this in "baby" steps...HA! I kill me sometimes.

I also think waiting a year gives us time to really see if we are committed...I really need to WANT to have a child. This is all very new to me. I was never your typical woman who always knew they were going to have a child. This is very uncharted territory for me.

Thanks again and more input is welcome!

It is good that you want to make sure. That in itself shows that you WILL be a good mother. Take your time until you know for sure. I will tell you now that it is worth it all. The good more then makes up for the bad. I am sure you will be fine. Best wishes!

I'm so sorry to hear about losing your dad, that has to be very hard. About the deciding thing, again, I know where you're coming from! I sometimes feel really frightened by my own ambivalence - is that the right word? I do want a child - but then, I also worry. I feel that my life is very rich, and there are lots of things that I still want to explore. I'm not afraid to admit that I am sometimes scared that I will be a bad mother because I may not be one of those that breathes every breath for my child's sake. But then I think about it further, and I think my own mom was the greatest in the world, she did not hover or act over-protective, she set a good example for me by pursuing her own interests and showing me that she was a person worthy of respect too, that she was a woman, a wife, an employee, a friend, etc. in addition to being a mom. Anyway I'm going off on a tangent, but just thought I'd lend support. I talked to my doctor once because I was getting all of this "you're HOW old? And you haven't started having babies yet?!?" and it really, really got to me. But my doctor completely reassured me that we are FINE we have plenty of time, and the worst thing would be to have children before you are really ready. So I agree, wait until you are 100% sure! Because you don't want to wind up resenting either child or hubby if you are pressured into anything. Good luck, sorry about the ramble!

my mom is still shocked i am pregnant. i was as a young person not really into babies i was on the fence i would put it off to some point far off in the future but christmas 04 it hit me big style the need to have a child was emense it is like a craving for something like a physical need. i am so happy if not exhausted and fed up of the pregnancy part now (i am 31 weeks) but would not change it for the world thankfully my broodyness hit at the right times in our lives for me and dh too. good luck when ttc

I just had Stage I endo removed (I had no symptoms at all of endo), during a lap, which was done because we had been TTC for 12 months. My doctor said that if you have endo, your chances each month are only 1 or 2%....He said that people with endo have white blood cells that will attack and kill the sperm and egg.

If you want children, I would start now if you have endo. While not all endo women have infertility, a lot do. Fertility treatments take a long time. By the time you feel ready, you will already have wasted important fertile year. Plus, endo supposedly progresses in time, so a year wait might cause it to get worse.

Also, I would delay children myself if I knew I would have no fertilty issues. Unfrotunately, that's not the case for me. It's better to have child a year sooner than have to deal with infertility later. (This is just my humble opinion)