Pregnancy After Donating

[kayla1578]

Does anyone know anything about pregnancy after donating? Has anyone had children post-donation? If so, how soon after did you get pregnant? I'm trying to find information on this and haven't been able to find much online yet. If you can share any knowledge or experience or links to more info online, I would greatly appreciate it.

FYI, we have been trying to conceive for 1.5 years and are on fertility treatment now.  I will stop fertility treatment to go ahead with the donation, but I'd like to know how the surgery will impact future pregnancies.  I will of course discuss this with the OBGyn at the right time, but I don't wish to yet.

Thanks again,
Amanda

[kayla1578]

Just a follow-up: I was able to find a site that says they recommend waiting 3-6 months post surgery to get pregnant. So, if that's correct, it at least answers one of my questions! 

[sherri]

you may also want to discuss with the physicians if you need to use birth control prior to the surgery. If you choose not to, because of your history of infertility, you would definitely need to have an HCG drawn prior to surgery to make sure you are not pregnant. I would think they do that routinely for all female patients who may become pregnant as a precaution but you can ask. Many infertile couples find they become pregnant when they're not even trying. I did have to come off birth control pills 6 weeks prior to the surgery as with any surgery since you are at increased risk of blood clots from the surgery compounded with the pill.

There are a few articles around about pregnancy after donating and I think some of our LDO posters have posted about their experiences. you can try the experience section and also do a search to see if anything comes up in previous posts.

Good luck to you and your husband. Hope this brings you good fortune.

Sherri

[sherri]

just wanted to add this website for some information for you. Keep searching. I'm sure you will find more research articles or you can ask your donor advocate to find some written information for you.

http://www.livingdonor101.com/risks.shtml#PREGNANCY_POST-TRANSPLANT

http://www.hods.org/pdf/content/Long-Term%20(20-37)%20Years)%20Follow-up%20of%20Living%20Kidney%20Donors.pdf

From the above study:

A total of 33 donors reported 72 pregnancies post donation.


Of these 33 donors, 25 had not had pregnancies before donation.
Two donors reported having hypertension during their
first pregnancy and a third had preeclampsia. Only one donor
reported needing treatment for hypertension, during a second
pregnancy

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/708434

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2747242/

[lawphi]

Years ago, I found a UK living donation study where there was a large incidence of multiples.   

I know that the surgery will not increase the need for a c-section.

We hope to begin the pregnancy process after my body recovers and/or six months.

My ob-gyn is a family friend and has no issues with me starting a family post donation.  She most likely will treat me as high risk. 

[KidneyAngel]

I know of someone who had 1 or 2 years ago, her 2nd child, since donating a kidney in 2005!  I had a kidney match in which the donor had a kidney less than 2 years after donating a kidney.

One cannot get pregnant for at least 6-9 months after donating a kidney.

Best of luck to you!



Chaya Lipschutz
E-mail: KidneyMitzvah@aol.com

www.SaveALife-DonateAKidney.com

[kayla1578]

Thanks you guys! You all help me so much.  I just love this forum!

Just FYI: I'm going through Ohio State for my transplant and I had to agree to wait 9 to 12 months to get pregnant post-op.  It's strange how the time restrictions seem to swing so much for each transplant center!

[jstx]

I also wondered about this.  My personal doctor didn't have any problems with it so I went ahead and donated.  When I went in for my all day evaluation, I asked my surgeon about it.  I believe he said they are currently working on a study on this....no clue how long studies like this take to be completed but I'll be interested in seeing it when it comes out.  I couldn't find anything that showed it complicates pregnancy after donation.  The surgeon or nephrologist did mention that if I was already at risk for hypertension during pregnancy, donation would increase the risk (i.e. if I have a 50% chance of developing hypertension in pregnancy, after donation my chance might go up to 75% - THESE ARE NUMBERS I'M MAKING UP AS AN EXAMPLE - THEY ARE NOT ACCURATE NUMBERS AND WERE NOT GIVEN TO ME BY THE SURGEON OR NEPHROLOGIST)...sorry just had to CYA!    Sorry if I'm repeating info already given; I need to check out those links Sherri gave.

[Fr Pat]

     I am not sure if it is included in the sites ofered above, but I did read of a fairly recent study of living kidney donors someplace in Europe which found that there was a small but notable increase in some types of pregnancy complications in donors (as compared to a comparable population.) Sorry that I don't have a detailed reference of where to find the study.
     Fr. Pat

[Scott337]

Kayla,

I believe the study Fr. Pat is describing is a Norwegian study; 

 http://www.nature.com/nrneph/journal/v5/n9/full/nrneph.2009.129.html

I included the link/address for you to read.

Good luck with your decision - Keep us informed.  Best wishes and God Bless

Scott   

[ergarcia99]

My friend had a baby 5 years after with no complications.  They told me wait a good year before trying.
Good luck, Erika

[Catherine C]

I donated my kidney in Jan. 2001 and had my daughter Nov. 2002.  She was our second child.  I had no complications and I wasn't considered high risk by my OB/Gyn.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks.