27-year-old Anna Adamyan (formerly called Wilken) is a model and former Germany’s Next Topmodel candidate and is married to soccer player Sargis Adamyan. On Instagram she looks back on the last few years, which were not easy for the young woman. She always wanted to be a young mother, but it was a long and hard road until Anna Adamyan could hold a positive pregnancy test in her hands. She shared this with her more than 600,000 followers on Instagram. She speaks openly on Instagram about her endometriosis and also about her path to pregnancy with miscarriages and fertility treatments to educate and create understanding for those affected.
Endometriosis is a chronic disease. Tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. The tissue settles, for example, on the intestines, on the ovaries or in the abdomen. The tissue behaves similarly to the lining of the uterus. During the menstrual cycle, tissue builds up and breaks down and bleeds. But: The shed tissue cannot leave the body and so-called endometriosis foci form. Cysts and inflammation develop. This can cause severe pain for those affected.
In an interview with Stern, Anna Adamyan described what it was like for her when she found out in 2017 that her ovarian activity was reduced and was more like a woman going through menopause. In addition to endometriosis, the young woman also has adenomyosis.
That’s what it’s called when tissue from the glands lining the womb grows into the muscle tissue of the womb. The disease was initially referred to as a subtype of endometriosis. However, it is a disease in its own right.
In principle, women with endometriosis can become pregnant. However, endometriosis is associated with infertility. According to the Federal Association of Gynecologists, a woman is considered infertile if she has not become pregnant after two years of unprotected sex with a man. A 2014 study showed that fertile couples who had unprotected sex had a 15 to 20 percent chance of conceiving each month. In couples where the woman has endometriosis, the fertility rate drops to two to ten percent.
In the case of a more pronounced endometriosis, the tissue adhesions can also lead to changes such as kinks or blockages in the fallopian tubes, which prevent sperm and egg cells from meeting. “Ovarian tissue can also be damaged by the growth of endometriosis-related cysts,” says Miguel Luna, gynecologist and director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Women’s Health Institute, on its website.
But endometriosis can also affect fertility in women with a mild form and few adhesions. Why this is so is still unclear. Endometriosis causes inflammation in the pelvic and abdominal cavity outside of the uterus. One assumption is that the inflammation has a negative impact on the quality of the egg cells. Another hypothesis is that inflammation makes it difficult for sperm and oocytes to meet or for an embryo to implant, describes Miguel Luna.
So, women with endometriosis can have a harder time conceiving than women without endometriosis. In women with adenomyosis, fertility is even more limited – but pregnancy is fundamentally possible.
The doctors at the fertility center were also unable to tell her to what extent endometriosis played a role in Anna Adamyan’s difficulties in getting pregnant. Her case is complex, she described in an interview with the star.
In the last few months, Anna Adamyan’s followers have been able to witness how her belly has been growing month by month since December 2022. Her due date is early August. At the beginning of pregnancy, Anna Adamyan was very afraid, as she told “Deep and Clear”. The young woman has already had two miscarriages. She was in fertility treatment for years and had a total of eleven artificial inseminations.
She recently recalled this time on Instagram – the year 2019: “Together with my mom, I was incredibly excited at the fertility center in Regensburg. Excited because the very first embryo transfer took place.” Embryo transfer is a part of artificial insemination in which the embryos are placed in the uterus. In the days that followed, her thoughts and feelings went haywire. A few days later she received the call and the news that she had not become pregnant.
She continues: “Now, four years later, I can finally carry our miracle under my heart. The way there was not easy and different than I ever imagined. And yet it was worth every step.”
Sources: Instagram Anna Adamyan, Endometriosis Association, Netdoktor, Gynecologists on the Net Endometriosis, Fertility Center Munich, Helios Clinic, Deep and Clear, Study Fertility Rate, Cleveland Clinic, Gynecologists on the Net Infertility, Adenomyosis Study
