Does Abortion Cause Infertility?

May 2, 2024 Reviewed by Dr Hameed Ibrahim Khokar

Originally posted 2021-09-29 04:51:36.

The term “abortion” in medical terminology means a planned termination of a pregnancy or a pregnancy ending in miscarriage. But most people refer to abortion, said as induced abortion that is how the term is used here.

When you’ve had an induced abortion, you feel concerned about the means for future fertility and pregnancies. But having an abortion doesn’t affect your ability to get pregnant again in future.

Exception is when you have scarring after a surgical abortion the condition is called Asherman syndrome.

The types of abortion

Rare but sometimes the type of abortion you have affect your fertility in the future. Likewise, the method of abortion depends on how far the pregnancy has progressed. Timing also factor when a person requires the medical or surgical abortion.

The Medical abortion

A medical abortion happens when a woman takes medications to induce abortion, the woman take these medications when she has experienced a miscarriage. Medications make sure that all products of conception are passed to avoid infection and thereby the woman can conceive again in the future.

The medical abortion option a doctor prescribe depends on gestational age or the number of weeks into a pregnancy the individual has.

Instances of medical abortion approaches regards to timing include:

The 7 weeks pregnant:

Medication like methotrexate (Rasuvo, Otrexup) stops cells of the embryo from rapidly multiplying. The woman takes the medication of misoprostol (Cytotec) to stimulate the uterine contractions for releasing the pregnancy.

Doctors won’t widely prescribe methotrexate — as this approach is reserved for women with ectopic pregnancy when the embryo implants outside the uterus and the pregnancy won’t be viable.

The 10 weeks pregnant:

Medical abortion involves taking two medications, like mifepristone (Mifeprex) and misoprostol (Cytotec). Few doctors prescribe mifepristone — many have a special certification to do so.

Use of Surgical abortion:

Surgical abortion is a procedure to end the pregnancy or remove the remaining products of the pregnancy. With medical abortions, the approach depends on timing.

Up to 16 weeks pregnant:

Vacuum aspiration is the most common approaches to abortion. It involves using special equipment to remove the fetus and placenta from the uterus.

After the 14 weeks:

The procedure of dilation and evacuation (D&E) is the surgical removal of the fetus and placenta. This approach is combined with techniques like vacuum aspiration, dilation, forceps removal and curettage.

Doctors use dilation and curettage (D&C) to remove remaining products of conception when a woman has miscarried. The use of Curettage means a doctor has a special instrument known as a curette to remove pregnancy-related tissue from the uterine lining.

After the 24 weeks:

Induction abortion is the approach rarely used in the United States, that is indicated in the later stages of pregnancy. The laws related to abortion after 24 weeks vary by state. This procedure involves using medications to induce delivery. When the fetus is delivered the doctor removes the products of conception, like the placenta from the uterus.