Is it bad for a woman's health to never get pregnant??

Question

I hear some people saying that if you never get pregnant you can get ovarian cancer. What if getting pregnant is not a choice, it's an infertilty issue you have no control of

Answer 1

I have heard that women who have never had children are at a slightly higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer:

"Women who have had no children, no pregnancies, with no history of birth control pill usage, appear to be at higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. One theory to explain this is that these women have had uninterrupted ovulation (during a pregnancy a woman does not ovulate, nor does she ovulate when on birth control pills). The uninterrupted ovulation means increased ?trauma? to the ovary in the form of monthly egg and cyst development and this theory is that this increases the risk of ovarian cancer. However, it is again important to remember that women who have had children or have used birth control pills may still develop ovarian cancer."

http://www.dfwovarian.org/gillette.html

"Although some women are at slightly higher risk-women whose mothers or sisters had breast cancer, women who have never had children, and women who had their first child after age 30- the biggest risk factor for breast cancer is being a woman."

http://www.regionshospital.com/Regions/Menu/0,1640,3183,00.html

"Women are more likely to develop breast cancer if Delayed childbearing after age 30. Women who have their first child after age 30 or who have never had a child are at higher risk."

http://www.breast-medicine.com/breast_cancer_risks.htm

Answer 2

Just think about that for a minute... if never being pregnant meant you get ovarian cancer then all nuns would have ovarian cancer, not to mention countless of other women who can't or choose not to have children.
Any woman with ovaries can get ovarian cancer. There are risk factors though, one of which is history of pregnancy. These women "appear" to have a lower rate of ovarian cancer. Taking birth control pills also lowers your risk of ovarian cancer. There are many other risk factors including age (higher in post menopausal women), family history of ovarian or breast cancer, obesity in early childhood, ovarian cysts, and using HRT.

Answer 3

I've never heard of that before! If it's infertility that alone may increase the risk but I would think that the risk that's involved with having kids overpowers the risk of ovarian cancer!

Answer 4

You won't get an ovarian cancer because of never getting pregnant!

You just won't have any child of yours!

The ovarian cancer... you can get even you get pregnant 10 times!

That's not so linear!

But I advice you to talk to a gynecologist! And your doubts... will disappear

Have a nive life

Answer 5

You can get ovarian cancer even if you have had children, my aunt can't have kids and she is perfectly healthy and never had any problems and she is damn near 50

Answer 6

I have heard that it increases a woman's risk of breast cancer if she never gets pregnant, but my great-gradma had 4 kids & she had it, and my grandma had 6 kids & she had it.

Answer 7

disease and illness does not discriminate.