Obese women turning to bariatric surgery to improve fertility

An increasing number of obese women are turning to bariatric surgery to improve their fertility to help them fall pregnant as one new mum discovered after losing half her body weight.

Obese women are increasingly turning to bariatric surgery in their desire to have a baby.

Obesity, according to a new paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, is associated with a three-fold risk of infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, decreased success rates with IVF and exacerbates a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS causes ovulation failure and infertility and affects as many as one in five women of reproductive age in Australia.

Co-author on the paper Fertility, Pregnancy And Post-partum Management After Bariatric Surgery and fertility expert from the University of NSW Professor Michael Chapman said there had been an increase in bariatric surgery among women of reproductive age.

“There is a general epidemic of obesity among younger patients,” Prof Chapman said.

Weight loss increases fertility in women with hormone imbalances like PCOS, he said.

“The women it is most beneficial for in terms of getting pregnant and with the pregnancy itself with reduced risk of blood pressure and diabetes, are those over 100kg,” he said.

Jody Savage before bariatric surgery at 116kg and after at 67kg.

Jody Savage’s weight loss helped her fall pregnant.

Fat cells metabolise certain hormones that have a flow-on effect and reduce ovulation, Prof Chapman said.

Dr Daiva Kuzinkoviene, bariatric physician with Advanced Surgicare, said she had seen a baby boom post-surgery at her Kogarah office.

“A lot of obese ladies have insulin resistance and some of them become obese because they have PCOS … and their ovulation is affected,” she said.

“Some of the patients have had IVF and couldn’t get pregnant and they come to us, lose weight and then get pregnant naturally. We’ve probably had 20 ladies in the past two years who got pregnant after bariatric surgery.”

At 32, Jody Savage is half the woman she used to be and has found weight loss is a very effective fertility drug.

The picture that changed Jody Savage’s life. She opted for bariatric surgery in 2018.

Jody Savage fell pregnant easily after her weight loss surgery. She now has a baby girl.

“I used to suffer polycystic ovarian syndrome, but as soon as I lost weight, it went away,” Ms Savage said.

In 2018, the Gledwood Hills woman boarded a flight to Hawaii in 2018 with a friend and the seatbelt did not fit across her 116kg frame.

“That for me was like: ‘You fatty, you are going on a holiday and you can’t even fit on the aeroplane’,” she said.

“When I got to Hawaii I didn’t want to do anything. My friends wanted to hike and see it all but I was just really lazy and just stayed at the hotel and ate and drank.

“My friend took a photo of me out the front of the Kate Spade shop and I looked at it and thought: ‘Wow, look at you Jody, you are not happy’. That photo I stuck on the fridge and I started to research permanent weight loss.”

Jody Savage with two-week-old baby Bailee. Weight loss surgery cured her PCOS. Picture: Tim Hunter

Jody Savage and partner Joe Pule with their baby girl Bailee. Picture: Tim Hunter

In August that year she underwent gastric sleeve surgery and wrote a list of what she wanted to do once she lost an estimated 50kg.

“One was buy a denim skirt from Valley Girl. Being a size 20 you could not buy those cute outfits from skinny shops, for me that was a goal. I went in and I grabbed a 14 to see if it would fit but it was two sizes too big and I was in the change room bawling my eyes out, you’ve done it,” Ms Savage said.

“And I ticked off the last thing on my list, have a baby. Other things on the list like getting out of the shower and wrapping a towel around your body and not have the slit up the side, get on a plane and not need that extension belt.”

When she met her partner in 2019 at 64kg, she feared she still may not get pregnant but her PCOS had disappeared and she fell pregnant easily.

“We welcomed our baby girl on the 19th of January. So it’s been a whirlwind couple of years. Bariatric surgery has been the best decision of my life,” she said.

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