Kevin, M.D - Medical Weblog

A call to ban fertility treatments for the obese

Can this ever fly here?
The British Fertility Society is recommending women with a body mass index of 36 and over should not be allowed access to fertility treatment.

Underweight women and those classed just as obese (BMI over 29) should be forced to address their weight before starting treatment, the society said.

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Comments

  1. Applause!!
    Applause!!

    Best idea EVER!!

    Would save us OB's a lot of unnecessary stress also
  2. Anonymous Anonymous  

    Why stop there? Let's ban fertility treatments for women with IQ's under 90 or over 120. And for anyone with the Huntington's gene. Or for anyone with a personal history or mental illness. Or even a family history. And what about husbands of women accessing fertility treatments: shouldn't they have to maintain specific BMI's as well?
    And why stop at fertility treatment: mandatory first trimester abortions for all fat people....
    just in case you missed it, my comments are sarcastic...
  3. Anonymous Anonymous  

    I don't do fertility w/u's for these patients. They are at significant risks for complications during their pregnancy icluding, HTN, pre-eclampsia, GDM, shoulder dystocia and c-section. Why would I want to get that patient pregnant?
  4. Blogger Rob  

    Sounds a little too close to social engineering to me. I understand the risk difference, but it is getting into a grey zone
  5. Anonymous Anonymous  

    anonymous 12:27

    I agree with every word you said, except the part about the sarcasm.
  6. Anonymous drncc  

    Heya Kevin,

    I would think the idea is that underweight or overweight screws up girly hormones.

    That's a special medical term for BMI influences fertility.

    Looking for medical help to conceive is a bit silly if one hasn't addressed other factors affecting fertility.

    drncc
  7. Anonymous radiculous  

    All of those UK docs who now won't have to do hysterosalpingograms on 250 lb whales must be very happy.
  8. Anonymous Anonymous  

    Not kidding -- I saw a 372 lb 14 year old girl for abdominal pain. Should I have called CPS ??
  9. Anonymous Anonymous  

    Apparently some of you failed to consider that the article singles out underweight women as well as obese ones. Its a no-brainer- being at an unhealthy weight (whether high or low) drastically reduces your capability to conceive.
  10. Anonymous Anonymous  

    About this "underweight" business: are you sure it is not just a mistake in the article? Because it doesn't seem consistent: they didn't say "underweight and overweight" or "significantly underweight and obese"; they also mentioned BMI for overweight but not for underweight.
    So if you take it literally, it seems like 1 pound underweight is enough for them to give you hard time, but not 1 pound overweight.
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