So I went to the gynae on Friday – the idea was to just go for a pap smear and then to chat to him about me doing a surrogacy, given my history etc etc.
Everything went pretty smoothly and while he was examining me he mentioned that my thyroid looks slightly enlarged, and duly did a blood test to check it out.
He phoned me this afternoon.
Now the news isn’t earth-shatteringly awful..but it isn’t great either.
The good news is that my pap is all clear!!! The not-so-great news is that my thyroid is showing signs of being underactive. My bloods (showing thyroid hormone) were still in the ‘normal’ realm so the doc isn’t entirely sure what’s happening – I need to go back for more bloods in a couple of months to see where I’m at.
My issue now is that I always maintained I would LOVE to do surrogacy, but my own family must come first. Apparently if you’re prone to thyroid conditions then every pregnancy poses a significant risk for more thyroid problems..it’s not unlikely that I may end up on meds for the rest of my life.
That, especially to someone like me that’s not particularly enamoured by synthetic medicines and hormones etc, is scary. And I wonder what the longterm effect will be on my family.
At this stage I still don’t know anything. The news is still sinking in and I’m trying to research it (Google, I should sooo be staying away from Google right now!) – quite possible I’m making a mountain out of a molehill but I do need to research it thoroughly before I take this any further.
I’m feeling a bit deflated right now, I so badly want to see this process through…:(
Tags: hypothyroidism, pregnancy, surrogacy, thyroid
The Egg, or am I too Chicken? 
October 21, 2008 at 12:24 am |
Not to trivialize the potential problem, but thyroid issues are extremely common and usually minor. My doctor once said that pretty much everyone who gets tested is found to be out of range. Don’t feel too badly, if you really want to go forward, this is probably not a big deal at all. Hopefully your doctor can give you more info soon!
October 21, 2008 at 1:04 am |
Hi there,
So sorry to hear about this speed bump in the road. Hopefully that’s all it is and everything is okay with your health. Keep us updated.
October 21, 2008 at 9:21 am |
I agree with N. I wouldn’t worry about it too much just yet. Thyriod problems are so common and the majority of them so minor.
Still crossing all crossables and believing you’re going to create a miracle for a deserving family!
October 21, 2008 at 1:38 pm |
Yeah! Not to worry. I had thyroid cancer, so an underactive thyroid is better than NO thyroid at all 😀 In all seriousness, having an underactive thyroid does affect reproduction. It took my sister-in-law a year and a half to conceive and that was with IVF. They discovered her thyroid was the culprit (having affected ovulation).
After my experience and getting the run-around, I would recommend you requesting a visit with an Endocrenologist. They’re the ones that specialize in the thyroid. Good luck with it!
October 21, 2008 at 7:10 pm |
I hope the thyroid turns out to be a small speed bump as a previous poster said.
I think, though, that your decision to put your health first is the right one for you and your family.
Good luck!
October 21, 2008 at 8:48 pm |
Sorry you are having to deal with this. Hopefully it won’t turn into anything serious and you can move on with your plan. Good luck!
ICLW
October 21, 2008 at 9:29 pm |
I hope everything gets cleared with the thyroid and you can move forward with the process! Thanks for your kind comment on my blog- it’s too bad we don’t lived closer!
October 22, 2008 at 12:33 am |
I am so sorry you have hit this roadblock. I hope you can figure out what is going on.
ICLW
October 22, 2008 at 1:01 am |
Sorry you are having to deal with this. My mum had thyroid problems and I know how much they take out of one.
Here from ICLW.
October 22, 2008 at 2:10 am |
Thanks for your comment! I’m so excited to start the GC journey, and it’s made even more special, obviously, by the fact that it’s for my sister.
I hope that the thyroid thing doesn’t end up being a real problem, I don’t know much about it. But stay away from Google … I swear, more bad news and worry comes out of that darn search engine!
ICLW
October 22, 2008 at 4:45 am |
I hope it turns out to be nothing. (ICLW)
October 22, 2008 at 5:28 am |
I don’t really know anything about thyroid, but I do hope it ends up being something fixable so you can fulfill your dreams of surrogacy!
October 22, 2008 at 6:19 am |
wow, I hope this gets cleared up for you soon. I admire you for being willing to consider surrogacy. That is amazing.
November 17, 2008 at 8:01 am |
My Dh and I are currently on our gestational surrogacy IVF protocol.
I hope to read about your surrogacy experience.
Best wishes.