The Skinny on Weight While Trying to Conceive

Conception for the Underweight

By Shel Franco

The missing menstrual cycles weren't really an issue, until Lowe and her husband tried to conceive. "I tried to get pregnant for over a year," she says. "I went to the doctor, and he [said] the irregular periods [were] my trouble."

"[Patients that exercise to an extreme] many times have endocrine problems that produce anovulation, therefore no pregnancy will occur," says Marcos Pupkin, M.D., an obstetrician and gynecologist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, M.D.

Fortunately for Lowe, the lacking hormones were easily fixed with replacement therapy, and ovulation returned to normal.

Being underweight isn't just an indication of a love for athletics. It can be more sinister than that, as is the case with eating disorders.

"There is a common misconception out there among young women and girls who have eating disorders that a pregnancy can somehow serve as a solution to their problem and help them towards recovery," says Janice Saunders, an eating disorder education and prevention activist in London, Ontario.

Saunders points out that "It is not a wise decision to become pregnant while suffering from an eating disorder or in the process of trying to recover" because pregnancy introduces a whole new level of stress.

Saunders should know. She was once pregnant while in the beginning stages of recovering from an eating disorder. "Pregnancy is not the answer to any problem in this world, especially an eating disorder," she says. "I often wish I had been further into my recovery before my baby came so I could have been truly healthy and ready."

Want to see more?

• The Embarrassing Truth: Conception Facts You Need to Know But Are Too Afraid to Ask
• Healthy Eating During Preconception
• What You Should Know Before You Conceive
• Talk about it!