'You can't get pregnant with this' is false
Evidence last assessed 2026-10-14.
In short
- What the research shows
- Ovulation may be irregular, but it can still happen: if you don't want a pregnancy, you need contraception.
- What it doesn't show
- It does not predict your fertility, and it ranks no method.
- PMOS
- Fertility
See studies and method
What the evidence says
Ovulation with the condition is irregular and hard to predict, not reliably absent: most women with it go on to have the family size they want, and around 3 in 10 have no trouble getting pregnant at all. The guideline's advice is plain: if you do not want to be pregnant, you still need contraception.
The international guideline's information for women is plain: contraception is needed if pregnancy is not desired. Studies document the myth's cost. In interviews, women who believed the diagnosis meant they could not conceive described taking risks with contraception, and some had unintended pregnancies; some felt pressure to conceive early or changed their life plans. In a large Australian study, women newly diagnosed were over three times as likely to stop using contraception. The condition can make conceiving take longer and is a common, treatable cause of subfertility. That is a different statement from infertility, and the difference is the whole point.
What this does not show
Both halves travel together: pregnancy is possible with this condition, so contraception matters, and conceiving can take longer, and help exists. Either half alone would be a new myth. Nothing here is a statement about your fertility or your likelihood of anything; it is not a prognosis. Choosing a method is a conversation with a clinician: methods differ in how they sit with your symptoms, and this ranks none of them. The over three times figure comes from one Australian study of young women, and it measured stopping contraception, not pregnancy or whether anyone wanted one; the personal accounts come from interviews with 26 women.
Sources, as Neta holds them
Teede HJ, Tay CT, Laven JJE, Dokras A, Moran LJ, Piltonen TT, et al. Recommendations from the 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline for the Assessment and Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023;108(10):2447-69. doi:10.1210/clinem/dgad463
Guideline synthesis
Monash University, Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation. Consumer booklet: evidence-based information, polycystic ovary syndrome (from the 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline). Melbourne: Monash University; 2023. Available from: https://mchri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Consumer-Booklet_2023.pdf
Guideline synthesis
Copp T, Hersch J, Muscat DM, McCaffery KJ, Doust J, Dokras A, et al. The benefits and harms of receiving a polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis: a qualitative study of women's experiences. Hum Reprod Open. 2019;2019(4):hoz026. doi:10.1093/hropen/hoz026
People compared with each other · 26 participants
Copp T, Cvejic E, McCaffery K, Hersch J, Doust J, Mol BW, et al. Impact of a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome on diet, physical activity and contraceptive use in young women: findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health. Hum Reprod. 2020;35(2):394-403. doi:10.1093/humrep/dez274
People compared with each other · 11,344 participants