What are the odds of infertility in a woman with pocs if the woman has regular periods? if the woman has pocs but her period comes every month on schedule (a few days later or earlier sometimes, nothing too drastic) will she have difficulty having childre

PCOS : Pcos can be a tricky diagnosis since it can overlap and be confused with other conditions. In 2003 a consensus workshop sponsored by two organizations, eshre/asrm, indicated that to be diagnosed with pcos, patients needed to meet 2 out of 3 criteria including irregular or no ovulation (oligo ovulation and/or anovulation) excess androgen hormones (by symptoms or blood tests) and/or polycystic ovaries (by gynecologic ultrasound). Based on these criteria it was determined that approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with pcos will have regular menses, although not always with ovulation. Women with pcos do have problems conceiving mainly from this lack of ovulation. So if you can do testing for ovulation with an ovulation predictor kit or temperature charts and they look normal, then you are probably ok! keep in mind that there are many reasons why people cannot get pregnant including the partner, tubes being blocked, etc. That can also impact fertility. Hope this helps and good luck!

I : I agree completely with dr loret de mola about pcos and the issues. The following general data on fertility rates in the us may also be helpful. We do not know your age and female age is a major contributor to fertility rates regardless of other problems like pcos. I do not know your age which makes a huge difference on the recommendations that we give women about their fertility potential. The woman's fertility potential is the rate limiting step for becoming pregnant. It may not seem fair but women progressively lose their fertility from a peak in the late 20's. Natural fertility is generally thought to be about 20% per month if a woman and her partner are healthy and normal. Obviously, not every woman has the same fertility potential but for our discussion we will assume a 20% normal fertility for woman under 35 years old. Mathematically, if we start with 100 women then after 1 month 20% are pregnant and 80% are not. In the second month, 20% of 80 or 16% become pregnant for a total of 20% + 16% = 36% after 2 months. After 12 months the mathematical cumulative pregnancy rate = 92% which matches the findings in the real population of about 85-90% pregnancy rate after 1 year. If you are older then the monthly pregnancy rate decreases. For example, when we look at natural fertility rates in the us (source: national vital statistics reports, http://bitly.Com/yxsvz4), we find about 169 births/1000 women at age 25-29. The fertility rate drops to 136 for ages 30-34; 77 for ages 35-39 and 17 for ages 40-44. After age 44, the rate is about 0.5/1000 women. We have some tests that help us to give you an estimate of your fertility potential. We measure some hormone levels such as fsh (follicle stimulating hormone) and amh (anti-mullerian hormone) and look at your ovaries with ultrasound for your afc (antral follicle count). I suggest that you consult with your gynecologist or a rei (reproductive endocrinology and infertility) specialist. Get information and you will be empowered to make a good decision of what you should do not not do. Good luck.