Body Size, Fertility, and Reproductive Justice: Examining the Complex Interplay between BMI, Reproductive Health, and Access to Care

The relationship between obesity and reproduction is highly complex. While there are clear obstetrical and fertility risks associated with elevated BMI, it is less clear how weight loss impacts these outcomes. Increasingly, patients considered obese according to BMI are being denied access to fertil...

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Published inWomen (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 93 - 101
Main Authors Slocum, Breonna, Shami, Adrienne, Schon, Samantha B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Toronto MDPI AG 01.06.2022
Subjects
Black people
Body fat
Body mass index
Fear & phobias
Fertility
Gender
Health care access
Hispanic Americans
infertility
Menstruation
Obesity
Poverty
Pregnancy
Race
Racism
reproductive health care
reproductive justice
Reproductive technologies
Weight control
White people
Womens health
United States > US
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Summary:The relationship between obesity and reproduction is highly complex. While there are clear obstetrical and fertility risks associated with elevated BMI, it is less clear how weight loss impacts these outcomes. Increasingly, patients considered obese according to BMI are being denied access to fertility care, thus leaving them without treatment options for their disease (infertility). Notably, BMI cutoffs disproportionately affect historically marginalized populations in the United States and people of lower socioeconomic status (SES). This paper uses a reproductive justice framework to discuss access to reproductive healthcare based on BMI. In doing so, we connect obesity to larger systems of structural inequalities. We conclude that rather than strict BMI cutoffs, a more holistically patient-centered approach is appropriate taking into account the overall health of the individual, available scientific data, clinical capabilities, and the patient’s value system. This will ultimately make reproductive medicine more accessible to all patients.
ISSN:2673-4184
2673-4184
DOI:10.3390/women2020011