Advice of chances of conceiving with Cystic Fibrosis

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Sometimes, natural conceptions can be difficult due to cervical mucus being inhospitable towards sperm. This can be easily overriden by simply having your Ob or RE perform an IUI. IVF should be reserved after several failed IUIs or if one desires the option with the highest success. With an IUI, one should also watch out for the risk of ectopic, which is not as much of a concern with IVF (still there, however as with any other case )

thank you for your advice i will look into into and let you know how and when we are successful.

baby-dreams

Baby Dreams-

I am an OB nurse & saw your post & thought I would add my 2 cents as well. Has your partner been tested to make sure he is not a CF carrier? If not this is probably a good idea because it is much better to know about before conception than to find out when you are already pregnant. Even if he is a carrier there are ways to still reduce chances of having a baby with CF. Since there is a 25% chance of having a child with CF if both partners are + CF carriers (or in your case you actually have CF) it is a lot higher than most other genetic diseases. If only one person has CF or is a carrier there is NO chance that you will have a baby with it. If your partner did test positive then you could do IVF with PGD. PGD is a procedure that they can do after fertilization to check the embryos for certain genetic mutations. It is a fairly simple process when they are looking to see a very specific gene mutation unlike when they are trying to screen for multiple other genetic syndromes. After PGD is completed they will only transfer viable embryos with no mutations which will reduce the risk of having a baby with CF back down to zero. Just like the treatments & outcomes for CF patients themselves, we have also come a long way in screening & minimizing the risk for having a baby with CF. I remember taking care of CF patients in the past that simply thought there were no options for them to have children if their partner was a carrier. They would either adopt or use donor egg but now it is so great that CF patients can have biologic children without the worry of passing this disease on to their children. If you have any questions about this or about how CF would affect your pregnancy I am happy to talk more with you about this. I deal with a lot of high risk pregnancies & have had quite a few CF patients in the past, so I am happy to share my experiences with you if you are interested. Hope this info helps!

Thanks megan c! My partner has been tested and is not a carrier so that was a big relief. Any info on CF pregnancies would be greatly appreciated, my main worry would be getting to full term and delivery as im only 5ft 1 and very slim.

baby-dreams

Baby Dreams-

That is a HUGE relief! Usually during CF pregnancies we monitor the baby's growth very closely because of all of the GI complications that mom's tend to have & trouble gaining weight. It will be important to try to eat as much protein as possible so that the baby can get enough. They will also monitor the fluid later in pregnancy. Other than that we just try to make sure you stay healthy or as healthy as possible throughout your pregnancy & manage symptoms as they arise. Good Luck & hopefully you will get your BFP really soon!