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The CDC and public health officials around the nation are very concerned by what they’ve identified as “the pandemic of the unvaccinated.” For this reason, healthcare providers want to encourage unvaccinated patients to speak to their physicians and reconsider getting vaccinated. That includes patients undergoing fertility treatments.
Reasons to Get the Covid Vaccine as a Fertility Patient
A tremendous amount of information is coming to light about the immune system and how it can sabotage fertility. The more efficient and healthy your immune system is, the better your chances of achieving conception and full-term pregnancy.
Getting vaccinated supports your immune system in fighting and overcoming a respiratory virus that seems like it’s here to stay for a while. But, beyond the general immunity-boosting benefits of vaccination, there are other reasons we encourage our fertility patients to get vaccinated.
1. The Covid Vaccine Does Not Cause Infertility
One of the arguments against the Covid vaccine was that it might contribute to infertility. However, UCHealth recently posted a wonderful article based on the sympathetic experience of UC physician Dr. Holly Hoss, illustrating how vital vaccines are to fertility and infant health.
Dr. Hoss, also a new mother, is quoted in a UCHealth post, “We have a lot of data showing that the COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t cause infertility.”
We quote Hoss because, besides being a family medicine practitioner who has delivered hundreds of babies during her career, Hoss’ daughter was born last July during the first months of the pandemic before vaccines were available. Even so, Dr. Hoss was the first to line up for a vaccine as soon as she was eligible.
She understands, firsthand, the concerns women have about vaccination – or overvaccination – and the threat to fertility. As a result, she read study after study about the effects of vaccination on fertility and the pregnant population. Her findings led her to feel completely confident in her findings.
Read our post, Covid-19 Vaccine Use in Pregnant Women for more on that topic.
2. Covid Vaccines Are Approved & Strongly Recommended by ASRM
If there’s any organization that has a prescient concern about the risk vaccines may pose to female or male reproductive health, it is the Amerian Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). This organization is dedicated to research, cause, prevention, and treatment of all infertility factors.
ASRM takes a strong stance when it comes to advocating for the Covid vaccine. According to their patient management and clinical recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, they state:
Reproductive endocrinologists should discuss COVID-19 vaccination with all patients and encourage vaccination for all patients during evaluation and treatment for infertility. Vaccination either pre-conception or early during pregnancy is the best way to reduce maternal/fetal complications. Physician counseling has been shown to have a significant positive impact on patient willingness to consider vaccination.
3. Covid vaccines do not reach or cross the placenta
Many of our patients are understandably concerned that vaccines may cross the placenta and expose a developing baby to harm. Or, they worry that vaccine mRNA can negatively alter a baby’s genetic code. This fear is understandable, but it is entirely unfounded.
Our fertility specialists have combed meticulously through the data, and we feel 100% confident these vaccines post zero threat to you, your reproductive system, or your unborn baby. Again, ASRM writes, “None of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines reach or cross the placenta. The intramuscularly administered vaccine mRNA remains in the deltoid muscle cell cytoplasm for just a few days before it is destroyed…COVID19 vaccination does not induce antibodies against the placenta.”
4. Unborn & Breastfeeding Babies Benefit From Their Mother’s Vaccination
The good news about your Covid 19 vaccination is that it protects your unborn baby. While mRNA changes and vaccine materials don’t cross the placenta barrier, beneficial antibodies do travel through the placenta to the baby, just like all of your other antibodies. This means vaccinated mothers give birth to babies with available antibodies ready to fight potential SARS 2 Covid invaders.
Planning to breastfeed your baby? Even better. Studies also show that any antibodies produced by the mother’s body are ingested by babies via breastmilk. Dr. Foss actually received one of her vaccines while breastfeeding her daughter. She loves knowing that her vaccinated body passes protective antibodies along to her daughter, which will help her baby fight related infections throughout her lifetime.
We explain more about the beautiful symbiotic relationship between a mother, her antibodies, her baby, and breastfeeding in Immunizations and Women.
Want to Speak with Someone About Covid Vaccines & Fertility Treatments?
Are you concerned about how the Covid 19 vaccination may negatively impact your fertility treatments or pregnancy? We are here to support you. Contact the Reproductive Resource Center, and we will answer any questions and provide any clinical research you need to make the most informed choice you can.