IF, it's all in the family?

AmCheri · July 2012

Lynn made an interesting comment in Manda's post below in referring to her sister's low AMH.

Are you aware of any IF issues in your family? Did you know about it prior to TTC?

During our first canceled cycled, I found out that I have an aunt who had POF. Never had any children. Recently, my sister, knowing our struggles, has told me that she's been trying for over a year with no luck. She got proactive and is now waiting on the results of CD3 bloodwork. The thought of her possibly having to go through all of this breaks my heart like nothing else.

Do you have a family story?

Gregermis · July 2012

Mom's mom has a m/c. One had struggled a bit and got KU after her HSG. Uncle and his wife were only able to have the one. Tried IVF, but were unsuccessful.

AmCheri · July 2012

I think perhaps some of it is the difference in generations. Maybe my Mom would have had trouble in her mid to late 30s, but I'll never know because she had us at 26 and 28. Same for MH's Mom.

MBfromBMC · July 2012

AmCheri:
I think perhaps some of it is the difference in generations. Maybe my Mom would have had trouble in her mid to late 30s, but I'll never know because she had us at 26 and 28. Same for MH's Mom.

Similar story here. I was an unplanned pregnancy for my mom when she was in college at age 20, so there is no way to know what she would have faced if she were in her late 20s or 30s.

Her sister had one ectopic, but got PG pretty easily with her two kids. My other aunt was unable to have kids, but she didn't get married until she was 43 and stopped after two IUIs.

I suspect that none of them would have had IF issues, but it's impossible to know, I guess...

NMscubagirl · July 2012

We are dealing mostly with severe MFI, and both of MHs brothers have MFI issues. 1 brother ended up living CFNBC after multiple failed treatments, the other brother was able to conceive 1 child without treatment, but I think they have been trying for over a year for the second. So.....

lynn0926 · July 2012

I think some of it is genetic. My mom went through menopause at 35 as did one of her sisters. My mom had me at 21, sister, at 23, and brother at 25. I am sure she would have had problems had she been in her 30s.

I am interested to see if my cousin (who's mothers is my aunt that went through menopause at age 35 too) has problems when she starts trying for #2. She got KU first try at 27. She recently saw the doc due to night sweats, and her FSH is 10. Which fine, but she is still young for 10, I think. Mine was 7.5 a year ago. She is 30 now. Her cycles have chnaged, and she is on an every 21 day cycle vs her usual 28 day in the past.

Then I have another cousin who is 37 and just got KU with #4. It happened right after she caught her H having an affair and she posted all this vulgar stuff about him on FB ??

ETA: My mom is one of 5 sisters. Only her and one of my aunts went through early Menopause. One of my aunts even had her 3rd when she was 40, no problem. My grandmother was also 40 when she had this aunt.

mm29 · July 2012

I have a very large extended family. I was under the impression my family was super fertile, even though most women in my family started theirs very young.

When I started suspecting I had IF problems I found out I have one cousin, who has one child, has never been able to conceive since. She has a high FSH. I know she went through two or three IVF cycles, and only made it to transfer once. She has since moved to donor embryo, and did not have success there either.

I asked my grandma if any of her siblings, aunts, or cousin's has a difficult time ttc. She mentioned that one of my Great Aunt's never had any children. She was not sure if it was because she did not want children or if she could not conceive. I think it was the latter, knowing my family's strong religious views and the strong emphasis on family.

AmCheri · July 2012

lynn0926:
Then I have another cousin who is 37 and just got KU with #4. It happened right after she caught her H having an affair and she posted all this vulgar stuff about him on FB ??

Gah! That's awful. Nothing about life is fair.

Jlynn3 · July 2012

I come from a long line of fertile myrtles! My mom is one of five. Her mom is one of seven... Dads side is very similar and neither of my siblings had any trouble conceiving. Just lucky lil ole me

genmalone · July 2012

Nope, everyone in my family is super fertile. No m/c and no IF. In fact, there have been many oopsies in my family. I'm definitely the odd man out. Bummer.

ETA: Wanted to add that my Mom's Mom even had a baby at 40 and another at 45. Yep, super fertile.

mm29 · July 2012

MBfromBMC:
AmCheri:
I think perhaps some of it is the difference in generations. Maybe my Mom would have had trouble in her mid to late 30s, but I'll never know because she had us at 26 and 28. Same for MH's Mom.
Similar story here. I was an unplanned pregnancy for my mom when she was in college at age 20, so there is no way to know what she would have faced if she were in her late 20s or 30s.
Her sister had one ectopic, but got PG pretty easily with her two kids. My other aunt was unable to have kids, but she didn't get married until she was 43 and stopped after two IUIs.
I suspect that none of them would have had IF issues, but it's impossible to know, I guess...

My mother had my older brother at 18 (unplanned), me at 20, my sister at 22, and my younger brother at 24.

My sister did not have any problems conceiving her son. She conceived him at 29. I was dx with DOR at 29.

Mrs.McIrish · July 2012

We think my IF is due to being BRCA+(ovarian/breast cancer gene) as there is some research to support that BRCA ladies lose their eggs earlier than general population. My mom was 23 and 25 when she had me and my sis. She had ovarian cancer at 36 so she definitely would not have been getting pregnant at my age. Her sister was also BRCA + and only had 1 child and took 5 yrs to get pg. My mom also had an aunt who had early on-set breast cancer and never had any kids. We "think" she was BRCA+ but it didn't exist back then so we don't know for sure and don't know if she tried to have kids and couldn't. My cousin who has the gene had no problems having 3 kids in her early 30's. Who knows if she would have if she waited a few more years.

MandaS08 · July 2012

I don't know but I've been urging my sister to at least get her AMH tested. She's 27 and newly married - but I wish I would have know earlier rather than now.

AmCheri · July 2012

MandaS08:
I don't know but I've been urging my sister to at least get her AMH tested. She's 27 and newly married - but I wish I would have know earlier rather than now.

Manda, I'm glad you're talking to your sister about it. I wish someone had told me about my aunt years ago. As soon as I realized we had a problem, I gently started talking to my sister (who's just over two years younger than I). I hope there's time for her still.

blueberries8 · July 2012

Not really that I know of...my mom and both my grandmas were quite fertile. I was going through some very old family letters and came across a series of letters my great-great grandmother wrote to a friend or relative when she was pregnant with my great-grandmother. She was writing about how fearful she was about the pregnancy - apparently she had a late pregnancy loss before my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother was an only child, so I assume that there was probably a back story there, but that is already so many generations ago.

mm29 · July 2012

AmCheri:
MandaS08:
I don't know but I've been urging my sister to at least get her AMH tested. She's 27 and newly married - but I wish I would have know earlier rather than now.
Manda, I'm glad you're talking to your sister about it. I wish someone had told me about my aunt years ago. As soon as I realized we had a problem, I gently started talking to my sister (who's just over two years younger than I). I hope there's time for her still.

Once I was dx, my sister went and had her AMH tested. Her's was normal.I think it is awesome you are talking to yours about having her AMH tested!

jillychris · July 2012

I think it's hard to know. My Mom, aunts, sister and female cousins, all had their babies in their 20's. I'm the only one who got married later, and am now 35...was 32 when I went off BC. My sister had offered me her eggs, she's now 30, but I got pg before she went to get her b/w done to see how she looked, so we may never know.

None of my family members have had issues getting pg. My sister did have 2 m/c though...I'd be interested in her still getting b/w done, just so we know what her levels were or not. Might be useful info for her daughters someday, and for my LO on the way.

reb259 · July 2012

I was adopted so yup she had some issues... lol! Actually it has been great she gets it. Her and my dad tried for almost 18 yrs before getting my brother and then me 3 years later. They were married when she was 18 and dad was 21 and started trying right away. She is so amazed by the technology today... I heart her so much and dad too!!

AmCheri · July 2012

reb259:
I heart her so much and dad too!!

I love this :-) Go Mom and Dad!

Trippleb · July 2012

My sister had an ovary removed during surgery when she was 18. Her Ob/gyn detected a mass on her ovary via an ultrasound. She operated and didn't recognize endometrosis when she saw it. Ended up removing the whole ovary thinking that it could have possibly been cancerous. This was back in the mid-eighties. My sister later tried IUI but quit after one attempt due to the stress it was causing in her marriage. I also have a maternal cousin with endometrosis and another who had ovarian cancer. My own Mother had a full term still born baby between my older brother and my sister.

My Dad's side of the family is very small. Almost all my cousins only had one child and they had them very early. However on my grandfather's side of the family I have two great Aunts who adopted another family members baby and they had no children of their own. This is way before legal abortions and complicated adoption laws.

It hard to tell if infertility is an issue on my Dad's side because my Dad's mother was 40 when she had him (14 years after her last child) and my Mom had me at 38. So in other words all my cousins are old enough to be parents. Odd huh?

Anyway, I have no nieces or nephews. Just plently of cousins and cousin's kids on my Mom's side. I contribute that fertility on the majority getting started before they were out of high school.

lynn0926 · July 2012

AmCheri:
reb259:
I heart her so much and dad too!!
I love this :-) Go Mom and Dad!

Aww! ????

reb259 · July 2012

lynn0926:
AmCheri:

reb259:
I heart her so much and dad too!!

I love this :-) Go Mom and Dad!

Aww! ????

Embarrassed

Mrkyrain · July 2012

This is a very interesting post and something I didn't really consider before TTC. Even though I was 36 about to turn 37 when we started trying, I thought it would be so easy to get KU. My mom says that she got pregnant right away with me but she was also 26. I was her only child but because of circumstance so I really don't know if she would have had trouble. I know she did go through menopause early so perhaps. Her mother had three kids and two being twins before that was so common so nothing there. However, my grandmother on my dad's side was apparently told that she could never have kids and only got pregnant once after 7 years of trying. Can IF be passed down on the paternal side? I never knew about her struggles until recently.

Aegis2005 · July 2012

Our dx is severe MFI as well. DH has no brothers, and I'm not aware of any of his male cousins/uncles/etc having any issues.

delino · July 2012

My aunt had a miscarriage, possibly two...we don't speak to her so I'm not sure. My cousin and his wife did IVF, but I think that was because she has Lupus and she is older. Everyone else conceived easily and has two children.

In my husband's family, his mom had a miscarriage inbetween him and his sister, but didn't have issues conceiving. His sister may have had a miscarriage, but thought it was a really strong period. When she passed out, she went to the doctor and they told her that they thought it was. She now has her tubes tied. His cousing tried IVF 3 times with his wife and was unsuccessful.

Bella2u07 · July 2012

Not so much here. My mom is 1 of 5, I was an opps at 21, she didn't ttc that long for my brother at 26, but had a m/c a few months before him. Her older sister had 1 baby, younger sister is CFBC and 2 younger brothers each have 3 children. I'm guessing my relatives had children in their 20's.

My Dad's side is all fertile myrtles.

Roxie5739 · July 2012

I come from a family of fertile myrtles. I seemed to have drawn the short straw in my family.

1 and one of 4 girls = 10 kids between them, one m/c that I know of with one sister and she had an ectopic at 20 too

Mum - had not issues but conceived all of us between 25-31. Her sister had 4 pg's but lost one to m/c and one at birth

Dad - he is one of 5 and one sister was IF due to thyroid issues and had to adopt

Cousins - all have kids, one chose to be CF due to marriage.

Clear difference is that in my family, kids all popped out between ages 20-33 generally (one sister an exception at 40) so I think age is a huge factor here and reading all the responses above too!

mm29 · July 2012

reb259:
lynn0926:
AmCheri:

reb259:
I heart her so much and dad too!!

I love this :-) Go Mom and Dad!

Aww! ????

I love this too! I sometimes wish my sister or mom could relate. Even though I would never want to wish IF on my worst enemy!

mm29 · July 2012

Mrkyrain:
This is a very interesting post and something I didn't really consider before TTC. Even though I was 36 about to turn 37 when we started trying, I thought it would be so easy to get KU. My mom says that she got pregnant right away with me but she was also 26. I was her only child but because of circumstance so I really don't know if she would have had trouble. I know she did go through menopause early so perhaps. Her mother had three kids and two being twins before that was so common so nothing there. However, my grandmother on my dad's side was apparently told that she could never have kids and only got pregnant once after 7 years of trying. Can IF be passed down on the paternal side? I never knew about her struggles until recently.

I wonder the same. My cousin who is IF is a paternal cousin!

LnR70707 · July 2012

I knew my mother had an ectopic and 2 other losses (including a late term one that I actually remember). When I started seeing an RE I also found out that she had endometriosis as well and that my youngest sister was conceived with the help of Clomid.

Right around the time of my IVF BFP, I found out that my cousin and his wife went through 5 IVF cycles to get their 1st child. I wish I had known that sooner, but I don't think she talked to much of anyone about it while going through it.

JM1977 · July 2012

My mom went through menopause in her early 40's, and I think I am taking after her. She got pregnant with no problem with my sister at 28 and then had to try for almost 3 years for me. My DH and I started trying when I was 31 but my eggs seemed to be bad even by then. My sister, on the other hand, had her kids at 30 and 35 and got pregnant right away both times...

AquaFlowers · July 2012

My sister has IF, and adopted because she couldn't bear a child. My mother also had multiple m/cs.

Anasara · July 2012

My grandma (dad's mom) had 4 miscarriages, including 1 in late 2nd tri. So not IF as much as not being able to keep a pregnancy. One was before my dad & the other 3 were between my dad's younger brothers. I never questioned why there was a 7 year age gap between them until we started seeing an RE. This was back in the 50s/60s; she still doesn't really know why she had such trouble staying pregnant.

My mom's cousin also went through IVF for her daughter (now a teenager) which I didn't know about until recently. I don't know what her dx was but she said they had her on "the most meds allowed by law" (whatever that means) & she was on bedrest for 2 mos before delivery because of cervix issues. She was in her mid 30s (36 if my math's right) when she had her daughter; I'm 33.

jessican08 · July 2012

I have a family history of endo but not necessarily IF.

My mom found out she had endo during a lap she had in her early 40s because of polyps. She always had excruciating periods like me but she never had issues conceiving my brother. My sister didn't come along until 7 years later but she's not sure if that was because she had issues or just because of poor timing because my dad traveled so much for work. She conceived me about 3 months after having my sister.

My sister was one of those people who never wanted kids but conceived both of her boys while on birth control Hmm Oh yeah, they both have different dads and she's on welfare...but I digress...she never dealt with IF issues.

vanessagorc · July 2012

I'm not sure, maybe.

I will never know about my own fertility, unless i had an affair. But DH's mfi seems to have no genetic link. We can't find another IF male in his family.

arbutusbride · July 2012

Maternal grandma had a stillborn baby, cord wrapped around the neck during last trimester/birth and paternal grandmother had a baby that only lived for a day. My mom got pregnant pretty easy according to her. DH's mom said it too 10 years to get pregnant with him so we thought it was going to be a small issue but turns out it really wasn't a factor (his birthfather had children from a previous marriage) so it was more her and not a genetic thing.

My sister is not planning on having kids so it is all left to me. Ughh.

mdluv21 · July 2012

My mom had miscarriages - we are not sure if she has the same blood clotting issues I have or not since she was never tested.

My little sister also has PCOS. She just started trying to get pregnant so we will see if causes serious issues or not. (She is like me, she ovulates but not with any regularity.) She hasn't been tested for the blood clotting factors even though I encouraged her too.

may2806 · July 2012

Interesting question! Responses seem to vary a lot.

I know that at least some of my issues (POF) are linked to being a carrier for Fragile X - this is through my mom's side. My sister also has it but not as many repetitions as me. She has a high-ish FSH for her age but conceived twice without issue (neither baby got the Fragile X chromosome; they got the "good" X) - but the first baby was lost at 20 weeks. Her doctors don't really know why - her water broke - but I do think it's strange we both had second tri losses, although for different reasons. Her son was born without issues.

My mom had an early m/c but no other issues.

My maternal grandma had endo and lost an ovary to it after my mom was born. The doctors told her she probably wouldn't have any more children - um yeah, she went on to have 3 more! So my mom is one of 4.

My paternal side is a bit more complicated. My aunt had a second tri loss; she does have 2 sons but I believe at least one was a premie. My grandmother was one of 7, but one of her sisters adopted a daughter (I'm assuming because she couldn't have kids) and I believe another sister had a late loss as well. So I'm not sure if there's something going on from that side.

All of my married cousins have kids and have not had any issues.

naybird · July 2012

I have a very large extended family, and yes, there are more than a couple cousins and aunts who are dealing and have dealt with IF. My sister is single and has never tried to concieve or been tested, but my RE said she may have the same troubles as I do, as well. Since my main problem is my blood.

I have 3 cousins who are CFNBC, and have had failed IVFs. 1, CFNBC who hasn't done any ART treatments. 1 cousin who concieved her child on her 5th IUI and 2 cousins who don't have children, and are very closed lipped about it, but they both have talked about wanting kids in the past, and I definatley won't pry and ask if it's an IF issue. And aunt who tried and tried for years and did have 1 miracle child (she's in her 70's and ART wasn't an option back then, she also adopted a child from one of her brothers). Another aunt who had a miscarriage and never had a child.

So there is IF on both my mother's and my father's side of the family.

PrettyAccountant · July 2012

I would have to say yes. My mom struggled with IF and miscarriages as well as late term losses and even stillbirth. I wasn't technically supposed to be alive at birth (but I showed them cause here I am ... lol). My parents ended up adopting my brother and sister and then had me. My mom had 13 miscarriages, stillbirths and late term losses - I am certainly not trying to out do her...

Delta04 · July 2012

My mother had IF issues. She could get pregnant but she could not sustain a pregnancy. I think she had 4-5 m/c before me and 1 after me. She also had really bad fibroids as well. I have asked but she does not remember what her issue was, only that the MD told her that she would never have children...insert eye roll.

In a very odd way, we have an incredible connection as a result of my years of TTC. She gets it unlike most. It took her 10 years to finally have me.

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