HPV and its effect on fertility

The presence of the Human Papilloma virus HPV by itself will not affect your chances of getting pregnant. Having this virus may sometimes increase your chances of developing precancerous or cancerous cells in the cervix which could both affect your fertility or ability to get pregnant.

These precancerous changes to the cervix can be mild to severe and may not necessary require treatment. However you need to follow up with your gynecologist.

However if you need treatment to remove precancerous cells before they progress to cancer, your doctor will use one of the following techniques .

• Removing a portion of the cervix. This is known as cone biopsy.
• Freezing and removing the abnormal tissues (cryosurgery)
• Removing cells through electrically charged wire loop called LEEP  (loop electrosurgical excision procedure)

These procedures may make it difficult to get pregnant or carry a baby to full term. Removal of cervical cells may have an effect on  the production of cervical mucus. Healthy, normal mucus helps sperms swim up into the reproductive tract.  Without it , sperms can have a hard time reaching the egg.

The procedure can also weaken the cervix depending on how much tissue is removed. This can result in cervical insufficiency  which increases your risk of a miscarriage because your cervix opens during pregnancy. Reducing the amount of tissues  removed will reduce any effect on future pregnancies. However it is also essential that the doctor removes all the abnormal tissues.

If the  precancerous cells remain untreated and develop into the cancer, then you you may need a hysterectomy  which will rule out any future pregnancies .

If you have HPV, your doctor will prescribe medication to treat the warts. You can also prevent the infection from progressing to cervical cancer by having yearly pap smear  and having precancerous cells treated quickly.
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