Hanna’s Story

Hanna is 29 years of age. She was diagnosed with PCOS 8 years ago.

Her menstrual cycles have always been irregular, but has conceived twice with two beautiful children now aged 7 and 4 years of age.

Hanna’s family doctor referred her to me  for further fertility investigation as she has been trying for the past two years to conceive a third child to complete their family.
Hanna menstrual cycles are infrequent and only occur once every 4 months.

She has no other signs of PCOS such as hirsuitism or acne.

Her weight is in the ‘overweight range’ with a body mass index  (BMI) of 29 (see BMI on page.15-16 of my fertility book ‘Tips On Getting Pregnant With PCOS)
Hanna’s fertility tests included a pelvic ultrasound which showed multiple follicles in the ovary (called a polycycstic picture or appearance).

I also organised for her to have her fallopian tubes checked for any blockages with a special ultrasound test called a HY-CO-SY, and this showed normal open tubes, and hormone blood tests that did confirm the diagnosis of PCOS. Her husband’s sperm test was normal as well.
So far the main problem was infrequent ovulation. You can imagine after two years of trying she was pretty frustrated by now.

To boost Hanna’s pregnancy chances I referred her to a dietitian to help set a plan for weight loss. Studies show she needs to lose at least 5% of her weight.

I have also started her on a fertility treatment called ovulation induction. This is where we induce the egg to ovulate earlier. The treatment starts with a tablet called Clomiphene Citrate (see getting pregnant with clomid).

Hopefully this simple but effective treatment will be all she needs to conceive.