So I recently seen a g.i and he didn't known much about jpouch and fertility and he just brought my hopes down telling me I have a chance of being infertile which would totally be sad since I am a young 22 year old and would want to still be fertile I have a lil girl, but it was before u.c. I want to know if women actually become infertile after this kind of surgery although is has not much to do with reproductive organs. :/
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Yes, j-pouch surgery increases your infertility risk three-fold. However, that does not mean it is like being sterilized. ANY surgery that involves the pelvic cavity can lead to scar tissue that affects your reproductive organs. It is possible, but not a certainty. You also need to look at what your chances are of carrying to term if you get pregnant while suffering with uncontrolled colitis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1860095/
What some women do to preserve their fertility when surgery is necessary, is to have the colectomy (leaving the rectum) and an end ileostomy until they complete childbearing. They then opt for completion surgery later, removing the rectum and constructing the j-pouch. Most of the risk is associated with removal of the rectum and j-pouch construction, because of the proximity. Having the surgery laparoscopically is also another way to reduce the infertility risk.
Hope that makes it more clear.
Jan
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1860095/
What some women do to preserve their fertility when surgery is necessary, is to have the colectomy (leaving the rectum) and an end ileostomy until they complete childbearing. They then opt for completion surgery later, removing the rectum and constructing the j-pouch. Most of the risk is associated with removal of the rectum and j-pouch construction, because of the proximity. Having the surgery laparoscopically is also another way to reduce the infertility risk.
Hope that makes it more clear.
Jan
Thank u Gan! And I did have my jpouch done laprascopic hope that helped to not give me so much scar tissue.
Gen1...keep in mind that you are also only 22 so your fertility is much greater than women who don't start until after 30. If you would like more children, you may want to start sooner than later once you are ready.
Gen1, there is definitely the risk due to scar tissue. But just to give you some hope, I got pregnant post pouch after only 2 months of trying, with no problems. It is still possible :-)
Like everyone already said it Might cause some problem getting pregnant naturally but it does NOT mean you are not fertile or that you can have more kids,
You can always have IVF to go around the problem with great success
You can always have IVF to go around the problem with great success
Im 22 years old too and nobody told me about fertility until after my surgery (i had mine at 18). It's scary because my whole life I've dreamt of having my own kids but we just need to stay positive since we still have a chance.