Kourtney Kardashian has revealed that medication she was given while undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) caused her to enter early menopause.
In a leaked clip of the upcoming Hulu show,The Kardashians, the 42-year-old Poosh founder was seen discussing her fertility journey with her mother, Kris Jenner.
Kardashian recently revealed that she is trying for a baby with her fiancé, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
“Travis and I want to have a baby and so my doctor took us down this road of doing IVF, and it hasn’t been the most amazing experience,” she told Jenner.
The reality TV star said the procedure had caused several side effects, including early menopause and weight gain, which had been noted by cruel trolls on social media.
“Every single person on social media is always like, ‘Kourtney’s pregnant, Kourtney’s gained so much weight’,” she said.
“And I’m like, it’s so rude to comment on people when you have no idea what they’re actually going through.
“The medication they’ve been giving me, they’ve put me into menopause.”
Shocked by her eldest daughter’s revelation, Jenner asked: “Menopause? Based off of what, a drug?”
“Yes, literally menopause,” Kardashian replied.
Research around whether IVF can affect menopause is limited. One of the key steps of IVF treatment is ovarian stimulation.
The procedure aims to help women produce and generate as many mature eggs as possible to increase odds of conception.
One 2008 study of around 200 women, carried out by Bourn Hall Fertility Clinic in Cambridgeshire, found “reassuring evidence that ovarian stimulation does not compromise reproductive potential by hastening menopause”.
However, a small-scale study of 100 women, published in September 2021 by the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Indonesia, found a “statistically significant difference” in the age of onset of menopause between women who had undergone IVF and those who hadn’t.
“The age of onset of menopause in IVF patients was found to be earlier. However, the differences are not clinically significant and require further research,” experts added.
The leaked clip, which has since been deleted from social media, comes just days after Hulu released the first trailer for The Kardashians.
In one short clip, Kardashian tells viewers that she and Barker “want to have a baby”.
She is later seen lying in a hospital bed while Barker holds her hand. In another clip, a doctor is heard telling her to “put the sample in a cup”.
