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I am 27 years old and I have never been pregnant, I have tried over the years but no luck. I am waiting on approval for VSG right now. I'm not in a hurry to have kids. When I get down to a normal weight, do you think there's a good chance I could be a mother one day?

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I know I'm a man, but happen to have quite a bit of training on this one - I was practically raised in an IVF clinic, abused my needs-based scholarship in college to take graduate medical coursework for free, and am a research obsessed data nut. That said, it depends...

According to the literature, there does not appear to be any reason to believe your surgery will negatively impact your ability to become pregnant, it will just mean extra care will have to be taken during pregnancy to make sure you're eating sufficient amounts of all the right things, even when you're nauseous and it's 10pm and you've only had 300 calories so far :)

Women who are classified as obese generally do have a harder time becoming pregnant, particularly if their BMI is above 40 - so it's possible that the weight loss will help your body reduce it's excess estrogenic production (yay fat cells, they make estrogens, lots and lots of them!) and regulate/stabilize your cycle/fertility. There are a number of cases of women experiencing regular 'spotting' and thinking their cycle is A-OK when in reality they're just spotting and not even ovulating and/or ovulating erratically. It's worth noting though that women are most fertile just a smidgeon overweight. All in all, the weight loss should help your fertility UNLESS:

Something else entirely is going on. If you've tried for a few years with no success, I recommend seeing your OB and/or a fertility specialist. It's possible you have something else altogether going on that will continue to plague you and prevent successful pregnancy. Maybe it's something that's easily fixed laparoscopically (a blocked tube), something that can be fixed in-office (an issue with a blocked os, I once worked with a pathologist and help him dissect a woman's uterus [which had been removed due to excruciating periods] only to find that the cervix had no os whatsoever - no wonder she was in pain), it could be a hormonal imbalance of some sort, or it could be something bigger requiring IVF. I figure it's better to know sooner than later, but that's entirely up to you.

You also could just have historically had bad timing. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Taking Charge of Your Fertility as an entry-level, yet sophisticated and thorough look at all of this, and explains the science clearly how to get your timing down. Mrs. Smye and I, having read this resource and each bringing our own backgrounds to the table, were able to determine her fertility, get pregnant first try each time, and time out our children's births closely enough to have them land during the beginning of summer break to maximize my paternity leave with summer. We know we're incredibly lucky to have managed this, even with all of the resources we brought to bear, but couldn't have managed it without the book.

Sorry for the novel, I hope this is helpful!

Edited by Smye

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Anecdotal, of course, but I've read a few posts on here from women who thought or were told by medical professionals they were basically infertile due to various conditions, and then they got pregnant soon after (and a few even during) their first year post-op, sometimes unexpectedly.

Edited by Jason In Houston

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I know I'm a man, but happen to have quite a bit of training on this one - I was practically raised in an IVF clinic, abused my needs-based scholarship in college to take graduate medical coursework for free, and am a research obsessed data nut. That said, it depends...

According to the literature, there does not appear to be any reason to believe your surgery will negatively impact your ability to become pregnant, it will just mean extra care will have to be taken during pregnancy to make sure you're eating sufficient amounts of all the right things, even when you're nauseous and it's 10pm and you've only had 300 calories so far :)

Women who are classified as obese generally do have a harder time becoming pregnant, particularly if their BMI is above 40 - so it's possible that the weight loss will help your body reduce it's excess estrogenic production (yay fat cells, they make estrogens, lots and lots of them!) and regulate/stabilize your cycle/fertility. There are a number of cases of women experiencing regular 'spotting' and thinking their cycle is A-OK when in reality they're just spotting and not even ovulating and/or ovulating erratically. It's worth noting though that women are most fertile just a smidgeon overweight. All in all, the weight loss should help your fertility UNLESS:

Something else entirely is going on. If you've tried for a few years with no success, I recommend seeing your OB and/or a fertility specialist. It's possible you have something else altogether going on that will continue to plague you and prevent successful pregnancy. Maybe it's something that's easily fixed laparoscopically (a blocked tube), something that can be fixed in-office (an issue with a blocked os, I once worked with a pathologist and help him dissect a woman's uterus [which had been removed due to excruciating periods] only to find that the cervix had no os whatsoever - no wonder she was in pain), it could be a hormonal imbalance of some sort, or it could be something bigger requiring IVF. I figure it's better to know sooner than later, but that's entirely up to you.

You also could just have historically had bad timing. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Taking Charge of Your Fertility as an entry-level, yet sophisticated and thorough look at all of this, and explains the science clearly how to get your timing down. Mrs. Smye and I, having read this resource and each bringing our own backgrounds to the table, were able to determine her fertility, get pregnant first try each time, and time out our children's births closely enough to have them land during the beginning of summer break to maximize my paternity leave with summer. We know we're incredibly lucky to have managed this, even with all of the resources we brought to bear, but couldn't have managed it without the book.

Sorry for the novel, I hope this is helpful!

thank you so much to take time out to explain all of this to me I really do appreciate it. I'm more concerned about my health as I just want to live a healthy life but I do want a family so I'm really going to check into all of this you gave a clear understanding. Hopefully I have two beautiful kids one day! God bless you and I hope all is well

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The sleeve helped make me a mommy :) I was never able to conceive but after the weightloss it happened I had my surgery 11/2012 and had my son 3/2015 :)

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@@Joymarie333, no problem. Good luck and do keep us posted! Let us know if there's every anything you need.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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