Endometriosis and Fertility: When Surgery Helps and When It Doesn't with guest Dr. Sadikah Behbehani

Does endometriosis surgery actually improve your fertility, or could it make things worse? In this episode, I am joined by with Dr. Sadikah Behbehani, a surgeon who is double fellowship-trained in both reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. She specializes in complex endometriosis excision, pelvic pain, and fertility-sparing surgery - and she's one of the few doctors in the country who can both operate on deep infiltrating endometriosis and guide your IVF journey. We dig into when excision surgery helps fertility, when it doesn't, and why so many patients are told the wrong thing about their options.

Get the full show notes at Dr. Aimee's website.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Dr. Behbahani pursued dual training in fertility and surgery and the gap she saw between REIs and surgeons
• The 10-year average delay in diagnosing endometriosis and the questions every fertility patient should be asked
• The statistic that 50% of women walking into fertility clinics have endometriosis
• How endometriosis can be diagnosed on ultrasound (not just surgery) and what "endometriosis mapping" means
• The difference between excision and fulguration/ablation and why burning lesions isn't real treatment
• How to decide between surgery first, IVF first, or egg freezing before surgery, based on AMH and egg quality
• Why Dr. Behbahani says you should never transfer embryos into a uterus with untreated endometriosis

Resources:

• Learn more about Dr. Sadikah Behbehani and her practice at her website
• Find her on Instagram: @dr.sadikahbehbehani/
• Egg Whisperer Show on YouTube: subscribe here
• Egg Whisperer Show on Spotify

Do you have questions about IVF?
Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class.

The next live class call is on Monday, October 19 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.

Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.

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