Long-Term Effects of Eating Disorders on Fertility and Pregnancy

Eating disorders commonly disrupt menstrual cycles, but information is sparse about long-term effects of these disorders on fertility and attitudes toward pregnancy. Investigators examined these issues in a cohort of 14,600 women that included 171 with lifetime anorexia nervosa, 199 with lifetime bulimia nervosa, and 82 with lifetime anorexia+bulimia.

Twenty-one percent of women with anorexia and 20% of those with anorexia+bulimia — but only 12% of those in the general population — had been seen by a physician for lifetime fertility problems. Compared with women in the general population, those with eating disorders were equally likely to require >12 months to conceive; however, women with anorexia+bulimia were more likely than those in the …