Question: Is it possible to become pregnant and have a normal pregnancy after having had Cushing’s syndrome?

Answer: Assuming that the treatment of the Cushing’s syndrome has not interfered with reproductive function (e.g., that the neurosurgeon has not removed so much of the pituitary gland that it cannot secrete normal amounts of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which regulate ovarian function) the answer is an unequivocal “Yes”. Cushing’s syndrome, itself, has no lasting deleterious effect on reproductive ability, and Cushing’s syndrome is, with extremely rare exceptions, not a familial or genetic condition. Even if the patient has had pituitary surgery or radiation that has inhibited or eliminated normal secretion of FSH and LH, it is often possible to become pregnant using hormone replacement methods frequently employed in infertility clinics. In cases of permanent adrenal insufficiency, some physicians will recommend a slight increase in the daily replacement glucocorticoid dose during pregnancy, although the need for this is debatable. Higher stress doses of hydrocortisone must be administered during labor and delivery, but the normal replacement dose can be resumed immediately thereafter.

By Dr. David Orth MD (November, 1996)