Women diagnosed with the lupus and rheumatoid arthritis have, on average, half the amount of children they desire, reveals a new study.

Researchers say that women suffering from these autoimmune diseases are more likely to experience infertility and miscarriage, leading to smaller family sizes.

“Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and their treatments can pose major problems for women during pregnancy and can even result in birth defects and spontaneous abortion,” said Dr. Kaleb Michaud, lead author of the study. “We hope this study will bring these reproductive-health concerns to the forefront, especially among women in their childbearing years.”

Infertility Treatments for Women with Autoimmune Disease

While there is still very little research available about how female fertility is affected by autoimmune diseases, it is slowly becoming recognized as a legitimate reason to seek infertility treatments.

Dr. Norbert Gleicher, the founder of the Center for Human Reproduction and an expert in fertility and autoimmune diseases expressed that women are often misdiagnosed with “unexplained infertility”, when in fact autoimmune disease is really the main reason a woman cannot conceive or maintain a pregnancy.

“This [present study], reporting that women with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus give birth to fewer children is an important publication because the study reemphasizes the very significant impact autoimmunity has on reproductive success,” said Gleicher. “Unfortunately, this fact has, for too long, been ignored by most members of both of the two medical specialties, involved with affected patients, rheumatologists and obstericians/gynecologists, including reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists.”

Women who are believed to have autoimmune-related infertility are often treated first for the underlying disease. In some cases the use of a donor egg, IVF, and other infertility treatments may be needed should the woman remain unable to get pregnant.