The condition where a woman’s endometrium is hyper-receptive and allows any embryo to implant is called hyperfertility. Ideally, the womb lining doesn’t allow the poor quality embryos to get implanted. However, in the case of hyperfertility, the endometrium allows any embryo to implant. This means although hyperfertile women can conceive easily, most of their conception leads to miscarriages and they are not able to complete a full term of pregnancy.
Human reproduction is not super-efficient. Only 25% of couples conceive after trying for one month and 85% of couples conceive after a whole year of trying. However, hyperfertility can allow the woman to conceive easily because the lining of the womb is not able to distinguish the quality of the embryo and allow any embryo—good and bad—to implant. Due to this even “genetically abnormal” embryos get implanted. Ideally, these embryos should be rejected by a woman’s endometrium and not get an opportunity to implant, but a hyperfertile womb allows it to implant. This eventually leads to a miscarriage.
A hyperfertile woman is believed to have one child after the other. However, in reality, a hyperfertile woman suffers from recurrent miscarriages and remains childless for a long time. Research shows that recurrent miscarriage affects one in 100 women.
Hyperfertility has certain taboos attached to it. Many feel that a woman who gives birth to multiple children is hyperfertile. Generally, it is believed that Asians and women of color are genetically hyperfertile as they usually have many children. Hyperfertility is thus associated with a certain negative connotation.
A recent study concluded that hyperfertile women have the highest rate of stillbirth. Moderately fertile women have the lowest risk of stillbirth. The study also said that hyperfertility is more common among obese women. Obesity also leads to various lifestyle diseases. These diseases also contribute to the degrading quality of the endometrium. Therefore, it has been observed that hyperfertility is more rampant in the urban population of the UK and US.
Hyperfertility is a field of study that is comparatively new. It was first identified as a concept in 2012 in the UK. Not much research has been done to find the cause and treatment of hyperfertility. So far the studies have been done in small sample groups. Therefore, there is a long way to go before we find a remedy.
Author Bio: Prapti Chauhan is a professor of Genetics in Bangalore. She has contributed to several online research papers. However, she passionately develops contents on pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, umbilical cord blood banking and more.