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Women with undiagnosed endometriosis worse off when undergoing fertility treatment, study finds

23Strands News
23Strands News June 10, 2021

One-third of women using fertility treatment are being diagnosed with endometriosis after they start and the late diagnosis reduces the chance of having a baby, according to a new study.

Every person deserves to know about their health and what conditions they could have. In the case of women with endometriosis where one in nine have the condition in Australia, 40 per cent of those women will need fertility treatment compared to women without endometriosis.

"For women who had endometriosis but didn't know about it when they started their fertility treatment, they were worse off. They did more cycles, they were more likely to use intrauterine insemination (IUI), compared to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), which is the recommended treatment." Dr Moss said.

They were also 33 per cent less likely to have a baby compared to women without endometriosis. But the research also found women who knew about their endometriosis before starting fertility treatment were no different on any outcome compared to women without the condition. Reinforcing the importance of being able to get an accurate diagnosis.