Female Infertility
Since PCOS is a disorder in the female reproductive system, it messes with the female hormones and ovulation process, affecting the childbearing capacity of the patient. Patients with PCOS have high levels of luteinizing hormones and low levels of follicle-stimulating hormones. Moreover, they also experience low levels of female hormones or estrogens and high levels of male hormones or androgens. These abnormal hormone levels affect women’s ovulation and pubertal development, leading to infertility.
In addition, patients with PCOS also have irregular menstrual and ovulation cycles. These make it harder for women to conceive. Women with PCOS who wish to get pregnant need to undergo fertility treatment and may still need to take medications throughout their pregnancy. Although infertility caused by PCOS is treatable, patients still worry and may suffer psychologically, especially if they are married and want to have a child. In fact, 8 out of 10 patients with PCOS suffer from extreme depression after finding out they are infertile.
These cases are common. The World Health Organization estimated 48 million couples and 186 million individuals live with infertility globally, which causes a lot of women to give up their hope of starting a family.
