Infertility

[CGMoonbeam]

Were you unable to have children? My nuero stated at my last visit that my form of MS is "spinal." When I got home, I did some research that said that people with more lesions in their spine may be infertile and have sexual dysfunction. Do you blame your infertility on MS? Is it just one more thing that it's stolen?

[SNOOPY]

Hi CG,

I had a known infertility problem (PCOS) before I knew about MS. MS does not affect fertility nor does spinal cord lesions. I also have never had any sexual dysfunction, my sex life is quite intact.

[CGMoonbeam]

This is the article that I found the information in. The references for the article are pretty strong -- the Mayo Clinic, etc.

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[Redwings]

I did some research that said that people with more lesions in their spine may be infertile...

Hi CG:
That's a nice summary article about spinal cord lesions in MS, but it doesn't say what you think it says.

The article doesn't say anything about "more" lesions in the spine (spinal cord), or make any comparison of what happens when people have "more" lesions in their spinal cords than in their brains. The article is simply a description of the problems that spinal cord lesions can cause.

Next, the article doesn't say that people with spinal cord lesions "may be infertile." It contains only the vague two words "fertility issues," which can mean all kinds of things.

Also, the author did use some good source material (the Mayo Clinic, though, wasn't one of the sources). But the information was simply compiled, without further analysis or explanation. This is evidenced by the fact that four of the five sources don't even contain the word "fertility," and the one that does makes a general, unreferenced, unsupported statement -- "fertility problems can strike both sexes" -- that the author merely lifted the idea of.

That's the kind of generic statement that can get people into trouble if taken at face value.

There are good explanations for how spinal cord lesions can cause infertility in men (involving the loss of ejaculation). There are not good explanations for how cord lesions can cause infertility in women, since there aren't the same kinds of "mechanics" and biologic functions involved. Without that, I personally won't buy the idea that cord lesions cause "fertility issues" in women without a description of the mechanism.

Rather, the medical literature contains numerous articles about how female fertility and pregnancy are not affected by MS. The NMSS has literature that makes the same assertion. Here's a quote from just one: "There’s no evidence that MS has a negative effect on female fertility."

There are some articles in the medical literature involving how MS might possibly affect fertility (hormonal regulation) in both sexes, but the investigations are preliminary and the process involves the brain and endocrine glands, not the spinal cord.

My nuero stated at my last visit that my form of MS is "spinal."

It sounds like you may have misinterpreted what your neuro meant by referring to your MS as "spinal." And that has apparently led you to misconstrue what the article says.

In that usage, "spinal" is an adjective that describes where lesions are; it isn't a separate "form" of MS. Spinal cord lesions can cause different effects than brain lesions, but that's primarily because the anatomy of the two regions is different, not because they're a different "form" of MS.

This use of "spinal" MS should not be confused with the disease known as optico-spinal MS. Optico-spinal MS occurs in Asian populations (primarily Japanese), where "conventional" MS is rare. It's different enough from MS that, when it was identified, it was given its own name (a different "form," so to speak). It's now believed to be the same, or nearly same, entity as neuromyelitis optica, and not MS or a variant of MS at all.

[CGMoonbeam]

Wow, apparently, I too have been misinterpreted. I have been so sad about not being able to have children. My husband and I were never in a place financially to be able to go through fertility treatments. After the diagnosis, my husband and I considered adoption, but then my health took a turn for the worse, and I didn't feel that it was fair to bring a child into that, especially after my experience with taking care of my mother as a teenager.

There are so many posts about pregnancy and dealing with children. I thought, mistakenly, that I could bring up the infertility issue.

[Redwings]

Hi CG:
It's apparent that infertility has been very painful for you. With that backstory, I don't think you realize that what you meant to say isn't what you actually said in your first post.

What you actually said wasn't misinterpreted. You opened with a (mis)statement about how people with more lesions in their spinal cords may be infertile because of it and asked if MS causes infertility. The replies you got addressed those two issues because those are the issues you brought up. Those issues were also addressed to prevent other people from being misled.

Your post isn't about "the infertility issue." It's specifically about whether MS causes infertility. The words you used were interpreted correctly. WYSIWYG.

You didn't get replies about infertility in general or the deep sadness it causes because your post doesn't say that that's what you wanted to talk about. We didn't misinterpret you -- we just didn't have any way to know that what you said isn't what you meant.

Now that you have said what you really want to talk about and why, you can get some replies from readers who also want to talk about that but didn't reply before because they thought you wanted to talk about whether MS causes infertility and they didn't.

[WillyNilly]

There are so many posts about pregnancy and dealing with children. I thought, mistakenly, that I could bring up the infertility issue.

Hey hon, are you OK?
NOW it may be MY turn to misinterpret- WHY would you think you're "mistaken" about bringing up infertility? I would think this is the right place to do so.
Maybe thats because I don't personally take "studies" as gospel...I DO know that my personal experience has differed (many times) from what the professional papers say.
I'm sorry you're having a hard time with infertility, one of my daughters is also. Yes, I ask myself if it has something to do with me and my issues that I may have somehow passed on.
If these are the questions that are in your heart, please continue to bring it up. I KNOW it isn't just you.

[SNOOPY]

Hi CG,

I do understand how you feel. I was married at the age of 20, diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) at 21 and diagnosed with MS at 24 years old.

We wanted children and had been trying for 2 years before I became pregnant. I did not use any fertility drugs, our insurance would not/did not cover the cost and we could not afford it on our own.

During this time we were also going through the adoption process while trying to get pregnant with our first. When I became pregnant without 2nd child we had only been trying for a month but I was using HCG injections.

Your neuro is wrong, MS does not cause infertility. If you have not had testing by your OB-GYN that is the first place to start for possible answers...not your Neurologist.

From The Multiple Sclerosis Society on this topic:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/download.aspx?id=174

[CGMoonbeam]

No, I'm not ok. I'm sorry that I snapped. I guess sometimes, it just bothers me a LOT and I thought maybe this was the answer. I have read in other places that MS MAY cause infertility.

[Jules A]

I have been so sad about not being able to have children. My husband and I were never in a place financially to be able to go through fertility treatments. After the diagnosis, my husband and I considered adoption, but then my health took a turn for the worse, and I didn't feel that it was fair to bring a child into that, especially after my experience with taking care of my mother as a teenager.

I'm very sorry you weren't able to fulfill your dream of children but applaud your appraisal of the situation and the sacrifice as you made the heartbreaking decision to skip something you wanted so badly.

Are you well enough to volunteer with children? Where I work many have court appointed advocates. They support abused/neglected children. Have you ever heard of CASA workers? I'll add the link but think it might get taken out. You can find it with google.