Obese Couples May Have Harder Time Getting Pregnant

A new study has found that couples in which both partners are obese may take more than 50 percent longer to become pregnant than couples who aren’t obese.

Most studies about fertility and body weight have focused on one partner or the other – obese women are less likely to get pregnant than normal weight women and obese men have been associated with lower sperm counts.

But this study, published online Friday in the journal Human Reproduction, found that the weight of both partners in a couple probably comes into play when trying to get pregnant. The study’s authors say that fertility specialists may want to take weight into account when counseling couples. Reducing weight, they say, may help reduce the time it takes to conceive.

The study focused on couples in the general population – not those undergoing infertility treatments and was produced by the National Institutes of Health.

More than a third of West Virginians are obese, according to a 2016 report from the Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.