Pregnancy with Hashimoto’s is possible, but its not without risks and challenges.
If pregnancy is risky or difficult, surrogacy can help you become parents quickly and safely.
Contact us online today to learn more about surrogacy as a way to grow your family if you’re struggling with Hashimoto’s and infertility.
This article will explore how Hashimoto’s affects fertility, the potential risks for pregnancy, and how treatments like IVF or surrogacy may help you build your family.
Can You Get Pregnant with Hashimoto’s Using IVF?
Yes, getting pregnant with Hashimoto’s is possible.
However, Hashimoto’s can impact fertility treatment or exacerbate other infertility factors, as it can interfere with ovulation due to hormonal imbalances.
In 2022, the International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology published this paper that looked at 50 different studies, using five in its review that met inclusion criteria.
Four of those studies found that Hashimoto’s can have a negative effect on female fertility, especially in older patients.
How Does Hashimoto’s Cause Infertility?
Hashimoto’s happens when the antibodies that usually protect your body by attacking bacteria and viruses, mistakenly attack the cells in your thyroid gland.
This leads to the thyroid not producing enough thyroid hormone which can lead to problems getting pregnant with Hashimoto’s as the hormonal imbalance can cause problems ovulating and conceiving naturally.
Can Hashimoto’s Cause Miscarriage?
Yes. A 2020 study found that women with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis have an approximately 85% higher risk of recurrent miscarriage.
This is represented by the study group of women with thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab), the antibodies present in Hashimoto’s.
Some research suggests that proper thyroid treatment before pregnancy could lower miscarriage risk, but it’s unclear how hormone levels during pregnancy may affect treatment.
Managing the condition is typically done through medication to replace and maintain thyroid hormones with a synthetic hormone called levothyroxine.
Medicinally, levothyroxine is the main treatment, but there are also other ways to manage the condition such as reassessing your diet.
Adding anti-inflammatory and other vitamin and mineral rich foods are an easy way to combat the negative aspects of the disease.
Hashimoto’s and IVF Success Rates
Although IVF offers an alternative when Hashimoto’s disease and miscarriage occur, it still may not be an answer for the infertility it can cause.
- Cancelled cycle before embryo transfer: Recent studies indicate that women with hypothyroidism, which can be caused by Hashimoto’s disease, might experience poorer ovarian stimulation responses and higher rates of canceled cycles even with treatment.
- Live birth rates: If an embryo transfer was performed, those with hypothyroidism were shown to have slightly lower live birth rates of 27% compared to 30% of those without hypothyroidism, though this is statistically insignificant.
Although getting pregnant with Hashimoto’s is possible, managing the condition and even utilizing assisted reproductive technology (ART) methods such as surrogacy offers another path to parenthood.
Hashimoto’s and IVF Failure: What’s Next?
If IVF hasn’t been successful while managing Hashimoto’s, it may be time to look at other options.
Some couples may benefit from a gestational carrier, especially if Hashimoto’s and other medical factors continue to interfere.
Surrogacy offers a path to parenthood, allowing for a healthy pregnancy to be carried to term by a qualified surrogate, with all the necessary medical precautions in place.
Learn more about when it may be time to consider surrogacy after failed IVF.
Can I Have a Healthy Pregnancy With Hashimoto’s?
A healthy pregnancy with Hashimoto’s is possible. However, if left untreated, undertreated or if your body does not respond to treatment there are a number of risks that arise when it’s untreated o undertreated such as:
- Preeclampsia
- Anemia
- Miscarriage
- Placental abruption
- Postpartum bleeding
And while those effects have to do with your wellbeing, it can also cause severe issues for your baby too, like:
- Premature birth
- Low birth weight
- Stillbirth
- Birth defects
- Thyroid problems
How Surrogacy Can Help You Become Parents
If getting pregnant with Hashimoto’s hasn’t been possible, you can still become a parent through surrogacy.
Since Hashimoto’s may affect thyroid hormone levels and embryo implantation, a surrogate allows you to use your embryos while a surrogate carries the pregnancy.
Surrogacy may be your best next step if:
- IVF has been unsuccessful
- Your treatment for Hashimoto’s has been ineffective
- You have a history of recurrent miscarriages
- You have concerns about pregnancy and delivery complications
All of our surrogates have been prescreened thorough medical evaluations to assess their health, past pregnancy experiences and ability to carry a pregnancy.
Take the first step toward your family-building journey with Hashimoto’s—contact us to learn more about surrogacy or read our article about our surrogate screening process.
Hashimoto’s FAQ
What Are the Five Stages of Hashimoto’s?
- Stage 1: Genetic Predisposition
- Stage 2: Immune Celle Infiltration by the thyroid gland
- Stage 3: Subclinical hypothyroidism
- Stage 4: Overt hypothyroidism
- Stage 5: Progression to other autoimmune disorders
Does Hashimoto’s Cause Infertility?
Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of an underactive thyroid gland, effecting women more than men. It’s treatable but if left untreated, it can cause infertility as well as problems during pregnancy.
Does Having Hashimoto’s Make it Harder to Get Pregnant?
Yes, having Hashimoto’s makes it harder to become pregnant with almost half the women with the disease having issues. One of its impacts is on the menstrual cycle; irregular menstrual cycles can make it harder for women with the disease to become pregnant.
Can Hashimoto’s Cause Infertility in Men?
This 2022 paper from the National Library of Medicine looked at the impact of impaired thyroid function on male and female fertility.
It found that the link between thyroid dysfunction and male infertility was debated and less clear than female infertility.