is fertility hereditary?

just wondering bc i was having a conversation with my mom and she seems to feel i will have no trouble conceiving as "fertility has never been a problem in our family." this of course excludes any problems that could come from the male's side. anyway, just wondering everyones thoughts on this.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

It could be..... it took my mom 5 yrs to get preggo!!! Im on month 8 and still not pregnant! My sister on the other hand is VERY FERTILE!

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I hope not. My mother lost 3 babies before / in between me and my sister, and another family member on that side has also had 3 m/c already and is still trying.

That depressing statistic aside, HI JULIE!!!!

Re: is fertility hereditary?

Well my mom got knocked up right away on her HM with lil old me

She never had a mc as far as I know and had others right after me. Its taken DH and I 4 months and we still are not preggo so I dont know.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I don't think so because if it was hereditary there would be no infertility because it would eventually just die out in society, does that make any sense? In my head it does, haha, I'm just not sure how it follows on paper.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

There are certain conditions that can be hereditary - like PCOS.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I stopped believing in that one a while ago My mom got pregnant in the first month with me and my brother.......


In the meantime, I had PCOS and went through and RE to get pregnant...

So in response to your question, unfortunately for me it's not hereditary! Honestly I think it's all a coincidence if a person ends up being like their mom.. but that's just my theory! Maybe I just tell myself that to make myself sleep better at night!

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I think it can be. It took my mom 6 years to get pregnant with my sister and in between us she had 2 miscarriages and a still born (we're 6 years apart).

I have had no luck (PCOS) but my sister had no issues at all.

I think it is hereditary but back in our parents day there weren't as many medications or other options to help.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

Posted by DavaDay

I hope not. My mother lost 3 babies before / in between me and my sister, and another family member on that side has also had 3 m/c already and is still trying.

That depressing statistic aside, HI JULIE!!!!

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I used to think and hope so. My great grandmother had 6, grandmother had 10, my mother had us 2, all no problem. But after 2 years, I am starting to have my doubts.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I think yes and no. Your genes determine the shape/angle of your uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries etc.

However, there is a bunch of other factors that could affect fertility on an individual basis.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I'm not sure, but this is a great question to ask a doctor!

Re: is fertility hereditary?

well my mom has 7 kids lol so we will see

my mom was always told that she had the most perfect uterus and believe it or not every time i get a sonogram the tech cannot believe how perfect mine is

when i told my mom she said that means your fertile...

eta - my grandma had 6 kids and my nana had 5

Message edited 6/14/2010 10:09:34 AM.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I'm not sure. I think it took my nana a while to get pregnant, and my mother had a mc between me and my sister. I just re-found out about that by accident a few months ago, and got a little weirded out by it, but now I remember when I was like 3 my parents telling me I was going to have a little brother or sister, and then telling me shortly after that the baby decided not to come yet and it was going to come later instead. What did I know? Luckily they got pg with my sister shortly after, and I guess I didn't realize something was off, or subconsciously blocked the traumatic experience, because I couldn't remember any of this until I found out about it again a little while ago. So of course when we are actively TTC, I hope not to have these issues, although ultimately it resulted in 2 sets of relatively healthy daughters.

Message edited 6/14/2010 11:18:34 AM.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

I think there's some truth to it. My Grandmother struggled to conceive my father. My parents struggled to conceive me. And my cousin on my Dad's side is dealing with IF as well.

Unrelated to all of them, my BIL and his wife and dealing with IF as well. It's amazing how many people struggle with IF.

Re: is fertility hereditary?

IMO - No...

Nobody in my family had problems conceiving, or keeping a pregnancy.

I've been the only one to have issues with conceiving and keeping a pregnancy.