When it comes to fertility, there are so many different possible things that can get in the way. Some are more common that others, of course. Some are downright rare. In many cases, you may never know exactly what it is that’s causing you to have fertility problems.

One of the most common causes of infertility, and one that’s usually able to be diagnosed fairly easily is PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Not every woman with PCOS will have trouble getting pregnant, but a good number will struggle at least a little bit.

What is PCOS?

Pcos is a medical condition where the follicles in your ovaries don’t mature and develop correctly. This means that those mature follicles aren’t likely to be released by the ovaries, which is what causes you to ovulate. As you know, if you don’t ovulate, you can’t get pregnant.

What are the symptoms of PCOS?

PCOS can have any number of symptoms. It can cause irregular periods. It can cause you to have excessive body hair growth, due to unbalanced hormone production. Those hormones can also cause acne. Many women who have PCOS also will struggle with obesity.

How do you overcome PCOS?

You can’t always fix PCOS, but there are some things you can do to try. Changing your diet and exercise habits may help out. For some women, the diabetes medication metformin may be able to help restore regular ovulation. Other women may have success with fertility medications like Clomid, or may have to rely on more aggressive fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization.

What are the odds I’ll be able to get pregnant with PCOS?

It really depends on how severe your PCOS is. Many PCOS patients who are able to lose between 5 and 10 percent of their overall body weight will find that they are able to ovulate.  Even more women, somewhere around 80 percent, will ovulate if they take fertility drugs. Those on fertility drugs have about a 40 percent success rate in terms of getting pregnant.