Could fibroids affect my fertility?

Fibroids are common uterine tumours which are reported in 30% of women around the age of 30 years. They could be found inside the uterine cavity as submucous, within the uterine muscles as intramural or under the outer covering of the uterus as subserous. Classical teaching over the years stressed the point that only submucous fibroids could interfere with female reproduction mainly by causing miscarriages. This statement does not cater for the size of fibroids and whether they affected the relationship between the ovaries and the tubes in any way or form. There was reluctance to accept that fibroids in general could affect the fertility potential of a woman as many women do have normal reproductive performance despite having fibroids. With the advent of IVF more information is now available. Even small submucous fibroids and intramural fibroids more than 3.0 cm in diameter were found to affect the take home baby rate after IVF treatment. This information could not be applied to natural conception on its face value. However in the absence of other infertility factors and before IVF treatment cycles there is a trend now to remove these fibroids.