I am wondering if anyone was advised to harvest some eggs before jpouch surgery? My doctor is telling me that pregnancy may be an issue later due to all the swelling of my rectum (UC just moved to stump of colon and rectum), and the placement of ovaries and fallopian tubes. Scarring is another risk he mentioned, which I've seen in other posts. He had suggested that I get pregnant before getting the jpouch but I don't want to wait that long and I am having issues with having an ostomy. I am 31 and single, and not looking to get pregnant with just anyone! There have been a few negative experiences telling men about my situation (which did help to weed out the ones that I don't want anyway . Now, I have to meet with another doctor to discuss this and start hormone therapy in order to produce more eggs. All of this is going to slow down the entire process of getting the jpouch, which I'm okay with if it is necessary and it helps in the future.
Does anyone know what to expect with this hormone therapy and has anyone else been given this recommendation? Has this been successful for anyone, or are there any other drawbacks that I'm not seeing? I know nothing about this field and am a little confused.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I hope everyone is having a good day!

Hi Lee Ann,
That's interesting that your doctor mentioned harvesting eggs, I don't think I've ever read a post on here where someone's doctor has mentioned that.
My surgeon said that my chance of getting pregnant would decrease by up to 80% after the surgery. I was also told that even if I couldn't get pregnant 'naturally' that IVF is often a good option since the uterus is often fine but the process of ovulation can be affected. I don't have UC, but have read that some females become More fertile after colectomy since the colon can be so diseased. Has your pouch already been created but not hooked-up? Takedown of the temporary ileostomy often isn't very invasive and I would think may not affect that 'area' nearly as much as the colectomy and pouch creation.

Interesting... I haven't had the pouch created yet.
So, my surgeon just phoned me to let me know that they have been discussing me and the concensus is that harvesting eggs will be a waste of time. If I can't get pregnant on my own later, I will go the IVF route like everyone else. Now I can get my jpouch in March or April.

I actually looked into this before I did my surgery in 2005. I spoke with my colon surgeon and a fertility specialist before my making my decision. I was told that even if I had issues getting pregnant on my own due to the colon surgery.... that IVF was always an option and getting eggs after the procedure wouldn't be an issue.

In the end.... we decided to not grab eggs before having the 2 step j-pouch procedure.

I'm currently trying to get pregnant through IVF and have to say so far getting the eggs has been fine for me.

Wish you the best.

Nicole

Harvesting eggs is generally done in cases where medical procedures may damange the EGGS - such as chemo therapy. The potential issues with these surgeries have more to do with the eggs getting where they need to be and that can be remedied with IVF when you decide you are ready to have a baby.

Additionally, there is less of a track record on frozen eggs than frozen embryos. Obviously if you had no choice, freezing the eggs is better than nothing, but we know a lot more about what the effects of freezing are on embryos.

I actually appear to have trouble only with the egg and sperm meeting. My first IVF cycle brought us Alex who will be two this month. We had one frozen embryo and I got pregnant with that in May, but miscarried. We did another fresh IVF in November and I'm 11 weeks pregnant. So, three tries, three pregnancies, two babies.

I had the same surgery as you and I ended up having IVF b/c my fallopian tubes had so much scar tissue on them. They had to take my tubes out and just do IVF. I have 3 amazing girls...THANK G-D!

Thanks for the speedy responses! Congratulations Jill and painfree! It is good to hear that it is possible to have babies after surgery. Nicole, I wish you luck and hope you are successful!
Thanks again ladies!