Can anorexia cause infertility?

I recently read that anorexia can cause infertility. Is that true? If so, is it permanent?

Can anorexia make you infertile?

Yes, in order for a woman to menstruate, become pregnant, and give birth to a healthy baby she needs body fat. Many anorexic girls and women either never get their period or their period stops due to extreme weight loss. The cessation of menstruation, (amenorrhea), can be permanent depending on how long a woman has been suffering from anorexia. But for most women menstruation will start up when they begin to gain weight. Roughly 80% of anorexic women who successfully treat their eating disorder will regain their ability to conceive.

When a woman's percentage of body fat falls below a certain minimum her body doesn't produce the levels of hormones necessary to stimulate ovulation. Rapid weight loss and undernourishment leads a woman's body into a state of emergency and she will not menstruate if she is just barely surviving. For those women who are able to conceive while suffering from anorexia they seriously jeopardize their own health and the health of their fetus. Pregnancy presents enormous strain on a woman's body. As the fetus develops it will take nourishment from the mother. If she suffers from an eating disorder this can seriously deplete her own scant reserves and she may begin to experience the exhaustion and depression that accompany malnourishment. If she brings the pregnancy to full-term she also may lack the energy required to meet the demands of a newborn while remaining healthy herself. Women with eating disorders also have higher rates of miscarriage and an increased risk of giving birth to a low weight baby. Any woman who is struggling with an eating disorder should delay pregnancy until she herself is healthy.




Anorexia and Pregnancy

In order to have a healthy child, the average pregnant woman should gain between 25 and 35 pounds. Telling this to a person with anorexia is like telling a normal person to gain 100 pounds. If you are anorexic, you may have trouble conceiving a baby and carrying it to term. Irregular menstrual cycles and weak bones make it more difficult to conceive. If you are underweight and do not eat the proper variety of foods, you and your baby could be in danger.

Women with eating disorders have higher rates of miscarriages and your baby might be born prematurely which puts them at risk for many medical problems.

All pregnant women should receive proper prenatal care. Those recovering from anorexia or bulimia need special care. You should always take your prenatal vitamins and have regular prenatal visits. You should not exercise unless your doctor says it is okay and it is a good idea to enroll in a prenatal exercise class to be sure you are not overexerting yourself.

Yes, it can. Any extreme stress to the body will. The body needs to have good reserves of energy, etc. to be able to properly produce eggs, ovulate, and produce a baby. It is reversible if the person can get back to a normal body weight. (My sister-in-law, physician, suffers from this problem.)

I say yes because it puts a strain on your body to be too small or to large and can probably be reversed be gaining up to a safe weight.

Anorexia may cause problems with infertility. An anorexic woman can get pregnant, but she may have trouble conceiving a baby and carrying it to term. If you are underweight and do not eat the proper variety of foods, you and your baby could be in danger.


Women with eating disorders have higher rates of miscarriages and your baby might be born prematurely which puts them at risk for many medical problems.

it can do that=but if the woman wants babes she had better put weight back on so her periods can start again to conceive

yes it can cause infertility and many many other things. Anorexia is such a dangerous disease to have. It slowly kills you by shutting down all your vital organs.

Anorexia leads to a decrease in estrogen production by women - much of a woman's estrogen is produced in body fat and whem body fat drops below about 6 or 7%, then a woman can no longer ovulate. This further leads to a cessation or irregularity of menstrual flow.

Once body fat becomes healthy again (for a female 10-15% is both healthy and attractive) then ovulation will begin again and fertility will resume.

Once a female achieves a very low body fat level, studies have shown that she is forever at risk for having a low-birth weight baby - which can cause long term problems for the child. There ARE long-term sequelae of anorexia, but infertility is not one of them.

yes it can. when you don't norrish your body, its starts to norrish itself, with your stored fat, then your muscles. it begins to eat away at you body. when it causes damage to your reproductive organs, i don't beleive it can get better. damage is done.

however, due to malnorrishment, your period will stop. your period tells you that everything is ok. when you become health again, your period will start again (given that it hasn't been too long) and you will be ok.

yes. it can ultimately shut down your body. kind of like aids.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

Short answer is yes anorexia can cause infertility and yes if it gets to the point it is most likely permanent but in most anorexia cases in which the person seeks and recieves treatment the damage is reversed.

Yes! Anorexia has several harmful consequences, and infertility is one of them. In order to have a normal period, a womans body fat percentage has to be at least 17%. Obviously without a period you cannot have babies. Girls suffering from Anorexia Nervosa have a very low body fat percentage because they don't eat. Once they go into treatment, and get the body fat percentage back to the normal ranges, a normal period often is restored. However, sometimes they need a form of fertility pill to "jump" start that process.
If you know someone suffering from this, its also important to know that infertility is the least of their worries. Stroke, heart attacks, and the literal shut down of the organs is there biggest threat.