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I have endometriosis and also a low number of follicles in one of my ovaries. I don't know if he brought this up, but I know a few women who had lap surgery to clean up the scar tissue and check for tube blockage, then were able to get pregnant shortly after It'd be cheaper than IUI or IVF and would be covered by insurance, at least.

@twodoghouse, I had really heavy and painful periods for years (i was on vicodin for them) and one of the doctors i saw was finally like, 'Uh...you probably have endometriosis" and i mentioned it to my mom and she said, "oh i had that! that's why i had my hysterectomy". Uh, thanks for telling me! It was ultimately diagnosed through a lap surgery and they found lots of erroneous tissue plus a few cysts. My bowels and bladder had it all over them--my bowels were sticking together from all the tissue. So they had to separate a lot of my organs. I saw a regular OB for the first lap and an RE for my second lap. My RE told me that there is no correlation between pain and "how bad" your endo is; it's all about scar tissue placement, so he wanted to open me up when I started seeing him a few years after my first diagnosis. The treatment for my endo included birth control, no periods, and Lupron injectables for six months to 'freeze' my reproductive system before i was ready to have kids (i was diagnosed at 19). After those six months, I went back to birth control every month. Was on it until we started to TTC.

When my RE did the surgery, I had barely any recovery. The first time, it was horrendous. The RE used a laser and some newer equipment and I healed SO fast.

No, i didn't need IUI or IVF. I've gotten pregnant relatively easily 3 times and none of my issues have been related to endo--i have a genetic blood issue that has caused problems. But it's not the endo!

@twodoghouse: I would push for it if you're comfortable with it! Even if we hadn't gotten pregnant quickly, it would've been worth it simply for the pain relief I got, and less cramping/clotting/bleeding. My periods lightened up by about 50% and became about 2-3 days shorter.

I'm glad you like your Dr., sorry you have to go through this though! My sister had very severe endo and she has 3 babies now Don't give up hope!

@twodoghouse: I am so sorry to hear your diagnosis. I wrote most of this on Rainbow Sprinkle's post but I will relay it again here. My transvaginal showed that my left ovary was stuck to my uterus so the RE is nearly positive it is endo (PID would typically cause both ovaries to be stuck and I have other endo symptoms). His view is that routine laps to diagnose represent the old view and that laps should be done only to treat pain since there is no or little evidence they increase fertility. I myself have read a ton of studies about whether a lap increases the success rates of IVF and the more modern ones conclude that they don't. Also endo just grows back after the laps. So I am about to start IVF, which circumvents the problem, after 15 months of TTC and 3 failed IUIs. Two friends of mine had laps but had to go on to have IVF. There are risks in laps, including damage to ovaries. My doctor's view is why take them if you can circumvent the problem. I may get a lap after I am done having children for pain, but I chose not to beforehand because of the risks and little evidence of enhanced fertility. I do not like my RE from a personal perspective, but he is one of the most well-respected ones in the country at an elite clinic. From all I have read, I think his view represents current thinking. Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions. If you do get a lap, get an endo specialist who knows what they are doing.

@spaniellove: I was goin to say this too

It only seems logical to treat endo with lap first before potentially wasting so much $$$ on IVF or IUI that ends up not working because of the endo

I wish you the best & keep is updated!