Endometriosis is a medical condition that affects millions women around the world. Endometriosis can affect a woman of any ethnicity or race, whether she has children or not. In rare cases, girls who have not even reached puberty can still develop the disease. Endometriosis infertility is a distressingly common problem for women who have this problem.

Endometriosis is a condition where the cells that make up the lining of the uterus grows outside this organ and attaches itself to other organs and connective tissues within the body, usually the pelvic cavity.

Around 40% of women who develop endometriosis can become infertile, leading to endometriosis being one of the main causes of infertility. In fact a number of women only find out that they have endometriosis when they start having a difficult time getting pregnant, as any pain they were feeling had either been misdiagnosed or they hadn’t brought it to their doctor’s attention.

The presence of endometriosis distorts the anatomy of the pelvis, thus the reason for the infertility. Endometriosis usually occurs at the intra-abdominal and pelvic areas and triggers inflammatory responses resulting to adhesions and scar formations.

These scar formations can hinder the movement of the fallopian tubes and ovaries by attaching them to each other or the pelvic lining, which pulls them out of line. The result is that when the ovary releases an egg the fallopian tube isn’t in the correct position to receive it, so the egg never finds its way into the uterus.

It is also not uncommon for endometriosis to occur in the fallopian tubes, which can damage or block the tubes, again stopping the egg from reaching its destination.

As well as the effecting the ovaries and fallopian tubes, endometriosis can also impact on the posterior cul-de-sac (area behind the uterus) and the anterior cul-de-sac (area between the pubic bone and the uterus) plus the uterine ligaments particularly the broad and the round ligament. Having endometriosis in any of these areas can impact on fertility.

The disease may spread to the vagina and the cervix, or to the area near a surgical abdominal incision. There are rare cases of endometriosis growing in the lungs or other parts of the body.

Another issue to factor in is that despite a woman’s fertility not being effected by her endometriosis, pain during intercourse can be so great that many couples struggle to have at all.

Should you overcome the obstacles and conceive there are still problems to be faced. Women with endometriosis can not only struggle to become pregnant, but once conceived, can struggle to remain pregnant. From research it has been noted that women who aren’t undergoing treatment for their endometriosis have a spontaneous abortion rate of around 40 - 50%. This is high compared to the general population average of 10 - 15%.

If you are concerned about your fertility being effected by endometriosis there are a number of tests that can be done to assess your chances of falling pregnant:

- Blood tests to confirm that ovulation is occurring

- Laparoscopic surgery involves inserting a small fiber optic device into the pelvic cavity to view the reproductive organs, looking for any problems. If the surgeon spots any endometrial tissue present they will generally remove it there and then.

- By injecting fluid into your uterus and using x-ray to determine the movement of the fluid you can determine the fallopian tubes are blocked. This is called a Hysterosalpingography.

If the possibility of endometriosis infertility is worrying you, then talk to your doctor to discuss the steps that can be taken next.

Don’t forget if you haven’t already done so, you can sign up for the free endometriosis newsletter that uncovers effective ways to help women combat endometriosis symptoms. You’ll also find more about endometriosis infertility.