by Howard Farkas

Created on: March 13, 2009

The evidence of the medical research is overwhelming. Women who are significantly overweight and are going through fertility treatment, can dramatically improve the success of the treatment if they lose as little as five percent of their initial body weight.

A review of all the studies that looked at this question was recently published in the journal Human Reproduction Update. The researchers concluded that women under the age of thirty-seven who are going through the process of in vitro fertilization and are in the normal weight range, or even overweight, are almost fifty percent more likely to conceive compared with women who are in the medically obese category.

To put this in perspective, a woman in her early thirties, who is five feet four inches and weighs 180 pounds, could lose as little as 10 pounds, and increase her chances of becoming pregnant through in vitro fertilization by about half. The more she loses, the better her chances for conceiving, as long as she does not go below the normal weight range.

This, of course, is very good news for women who are overweight and dealing with infertility, because it offers hope that at least this one risk factor can be reduced. Perhaps more importantly, it gives women the opportunity to take a significant degree of control in their efforts to conceive when they otherwise have almost no control at all over the process.

Sadly, for many women who have experienced the frustration of trying to control their eating, this glimmer of hope may feel utterly out of reach. For most people who struggle with weight, taking control of their eating is more than simply a matter of exercising greater willpower. It is more often an emotionally charged struggle that involves a cycle of repeated successes followed by repeated relapses.

For women going through fertility treatment, this frustration is balanced by the hope that the process will result in pregnancy, which would make all of this self-restraint worthwhile. But what happens if, sadly, the current cycle of treatment is unsuccessful? The patient experiences a tremendous emotional letdown which is often accompanied by a similar letdown in the self-discipline that is necessary to undergo fertility treatment.

This is a normal and understandable response, but it creates a self-perpetuating cycle. Emotional eating is a way of letting go of the stress that builds up over time. But when a woman is struggling with infertility, the weight gain that likely follows this period of overeating is going to make her chances even worse for her next attempt to conceive.

If you are in this situation, it is important to realize that if you respond to stress by overeating, it is usually an automatic reaction and the motivation for doing it may not be clear at the time. But if you can identify the cause and understand why you are responding by overeating, it becomes possible to come up with a more effective and less harmful strategy for coping.

If you feel the need to be self-indulgent as a way of coping, then treat yourself in a way does not involve food and potential weight gain. Go to a day spa and get a manicure or pedicure, a massage or a facial. Or stay home and just soak in a warm bath with soft music and scented candles. There are many good alternatives to eating, limited only by your imagination.

Finding a healthier way to cope can help you lose the extra weight and create a more level playing field in your efforts to have a baby. This is one area where you alone can have more effect than the most brilliant doctors or the most advanced technology.

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