Are Fertility Problems Hereditary?
QUESTION
Dear Midwife,
I have been TTC for four months now. I just found out that my mother had fertility problems — specifically a progesterone deficiency.
Is there anyway that this problem could be hereditary? If so, how should I proceed?
ANSWER
Possibly. A blood test for progesterone levels during the luteal phase is a pretty easy way to check, and if there turns out to be a problem, it is a pretty easy one to fix.
-- Cynthia, CNM. PhD.
Cynthia Flynn
Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.
