EP 21: Does IVF Cause Early Menopause? w/ Dr. Ari Baratz

Does IVF put you into early menopause? Hello Magazine led many to believe this to be true when they quoted celebrity Kourtney Kardashian who is currently going through IVF treatments to try to have another baby.

Kourtney said "The medication that they’ve been giving me, put me into menopause. Literally into menopause."

Facing infertility is challenging enough. Worrying about going into menopause prematurely due to IVF, raises unnecessary concerns or fears which might stop you from continuing IVF treatment or you may take it off the table altogether. This is not helpful especially if you are someone who would benefit from IVF treatments (eg. in the case of male factor infertility, blocked fallopian tubes, PCOS, to name a few).

But here’s the thing, there is NO evidence to support this. Mary and I are not Reproductive endocrinologists. We are in the field of natural medicine who think about the whole human. We do not want you to be misinformed by social media and delay your positive outcome of a healthy pregnancy.

The truth is, IVF may create temporary peri-menopause type symptoms but all the research shows that it CANNOT put you into real menopause.

Our guest Dr. Baratz, fertility doctor from CREATE Fertility Center in Toronto gives us the details on why this is not possible and how Kourtney Kardashian’s words were misunderstood and her situation was not properly explained and hence false conclusions were made.

IVF and fertility treatments are a huge investment in time and energy and Dr. Baratz acknowledges all of us who have experienced infertility and sought fertility treatments but he wants us to know that IVF is indeed safe and will not cause menopause.

Mary and I share our personal experiences with IVF including Mary who did go into menopause at 47 (a normal age for menopause) after IVF while I am currently menstruating as we write this summary, 10 years after IVF.

We both recognize however the symptoms of IVF treatments such as TEMPORARY bloating, weight gain, mood changes, hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, anxiety, changes in menstrual regularity are REAL symptoms you may have or may experience going through IVF. These symptoms are very similar to those experienced by many peri-menopausal women. Mary experienced Brain fog, weight gain, and mood swings through IVF and Tanya did not experience any symptoms from her usual PCOS symptom history.

What’s the bottom line? IVF does NOT cause menopause…it can cause a “menstrual pause” and symptoms some women experience through peri-menopause.