Wanted to share a few great, easy to understand articles that break down the pervasive myths around fertility and the COVID vaccine, since I still keep seeing fertility concerns post vaccine pop up in various mom groups. They’re great shares for those who are vaccine or booster hesitant because of fertility concerns, or for those just wanting some extra reassurance, especially as eligibility will expand soon. T-5 days until the FDA meets for the under 5s! 
How can we be sure that the COVID 19 vaccination won’t cause infertility?
My TLDR: First, no drug or vaccine has EVER undergone a 10 year fertility trial. But here’s why the mRNA vaccines don’t need to.
- mRNA cannot enter the nucleus where DNA is housed, thus is unable to alter DNA. It’s also fragile and degrades in a few days. Spike protein is gone after a few weeks. So these can’t “hang around” waiting to cause infertility or other physiological damage.
- Antibodies DO hang around (fortunately!), but if the antibodies from the vaccine caused infertility, antibodies from an actual COVID infection would too.
- Spike protein and the Syncytin-1 protein on the placenta are only 3% structurally similar in their amino acid makeup, meaning they’re about as related as an elephant is to a frog. So no, your immune system cannot confuse the two.
- mRNA is not cytotoxic, meaning it can’t kill cells, ovarian or otherwise. Cytotoxic medications affect cells very quickly and often are accompanied by premature menopause, so any problems with fertility would have already been quickly identified in animal and early human studies. This myth doesn’t explain the millions of vaccine recipients who are still menstruating, have become pregnant, or have had healthy babies.
- The other components of the vaccine (lipids and other inactive ingredients) have been used for either decades or lifetimes in other medications, foods, and vaccines, without adverse effects.
Full article on the effects the COVID vaccines have on the menstrual cycle
- The TLDR: Menstrual irregularities after any vaccine are expected and benign. Anything that affects the immune system (like stress!) can cause short term changes in menstruation, but nothing permanent because the uterine lining sheds after each cycle, and mRNA is not an endocrine regulator that affects brain signaling to the ovaries.
Another article addressing teenagers and parental vaccine hesitancy
How can we be sure that the COVID 19 vaccination won’t cause infertility?
My TLDR: First, no drug or vaccine has EVER undergone a 10 year fertility trial. But here’s why the mRNA vaccines don’t need to.
- mRNA cannot enter the nucleus where DNA is housed, thus is unable to alter DNA. It’s also fragile and degrades in a few days. Spike protein is gone after a few weeks. So these can’t “hang around” waiting to cause infertility or other physiological damage.
- Antibodies DO hang around (fortunately!), but if the antibodies from the vaccine caused infertility, antibodies from an actual COVID infection would too.
- Spike protein and the Syncytin-1 protein on the placenta are only 3% structurally similar in their amino acid makeup, meaning they’re about as related as an elephant is to a frog. So no, your immune system cannot confuse the two.
- mRNA is not cytotoxic, meaning it can’t kill cells, ovarian or otherwise. Cytotoxic medications affect cells very quickly and often are accompanied by premature menopause, so any problems with fertility would have already been quickly identified in animal and early human studies. This myth doesn’t explain the millions of vaccine recipients who are still menstruating, have become pregnant, or have had healthy babies.
- The other components of the vaccine (lipids and other inactive ingredients) have been used for either decades or lifetimes in other medications, foods, and vaccines, without adverse effects.
Full article on the effects the COVID vaccines have on the menstrual cycle
- The TLDR: Menstrual irregularities after any vaccine are expected and benign. Anything that affects the immune system (like stress!) can cause short term changes in menstruation, but nothing permanent because the uterine lining sheds after each cycle, and mRNA is not an endocrine regulator that affects brain signaling to the ovaries.
Another article addressing teenagers and parental vaccine hesitancy
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