Can Gluten Affect Infertility and Pregnancy?

 I just read an article written by The Celiac Disease Foundation, September 17, 2014 called How Celiac Disease Affects Pregnancy? It got me thinking about my experiences and I began to wonder if I had been gluten-free when I was trying to get pregnant, would my life have turned out differently?

I can't imagine my life without my amazing daughter, who I love so very much. I wouldn't change one step in my life's journey but still I wonder if gluten is the reason I suffered so much back then. 

Gluten and Pregnancy: Photo by tapgene.com

Part of my life's journey was to experience infertility and all that brings with it. It was a painful and scary time in my life. For several years, I endured multiple visits to medical doctors. I was given so many medical tests that I began to feel like a human guinea pig. I was even one of the 1st patients to have an MRI. It took 12 doctors to read the results and even then they weren't sure of what they found.

When I finally started treatment for infertility, I was shot up with so many hormones that I became an emotional wreck. My poor husband, who was on this journey with me, now had to deal with this crazy woman.

I remember having to go to get shots on Saturday at the hospital. I would have to go through the basement area to access the elevator to the medical office floors, since they were closed on Saturday. I not only felt like a drug addict, I looked like one. I had so many needle marks on my arms that if I police officer had stopped me, I probably would have been arrested.  

The emotional havoc that infertility has is devastating, as anyone who has tried to get pregnant and is repeatedly disappointed knows. It is not like you can step away from it. Every month when I got my period, I knew all the drugs, etc. failed once again. I became more and more isolated and depressed. It started to drive a wedge between my husband and I.

One day my husband came home and said, why are we doing this, the doctors don't even know if a pregnancy will affect your health? That was a defining moment in our life! We let go of trying to get pregnant and decided to adopt. Adoption was the best decision we made. To read about our wonderful adoption experience, please read my blog post, My Journey to Parenthood.

If you are struggling with infertility, please try to find a doctor who will look at the whole picture and not just which drugs may help you. Best of luck!

References:
Celiac Disease Foundation
The original studies were reported by the NCBI.

Photo by: tapgenes.com