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new York – As widespread disinformation on COVID-19 vaccines and infertility have taken hold on social media, rumors have spread as quickly as the virus itself and have scared some women from getting vaccinated.
Jay Huber, a fertility doctor in New Orleans, is asked daily by his patients if the vaccine causes infertility. He said there was no evidence that this was happening.
“I think it’s important to debunk the myths because patients should have access to accurate information,” Huber told CBS News.
So what’s the biggest misconception?
“This concept that vaccination will actually cause the human immune system to create an antibody that cross-reacts with the vital protein in the placenta, which ultimately leads to infertility,” he said.
The unfounded fear, Huber said, is that an antibody would not only attack the virus but the placenta as well.
36-year-old nurse Stacey Clarke receives fertility treatment from Huber. She is concerned that the vaccine might in some way affect her ability to get pregnant.
“It’s too early to put something foreign in my body through what I’m going through,” she said. “There is a lot of emotion. Because I’ve done this twice before and it hasn’t worked.”
Clarke said the thought of becoming sterile crossed her mind, but Huber reassured her.
“He of course feels that there is enough evidence for me to receive the vaccine,” she said of their discussions. “So we’ve come to an agreement for now.”
Clarke said many of her female colleagues shared these fears.
“We have the same feeling about the vaccine… we just don’t know the long term effects on ourselves or on the fetus,” she said.
Huber addressed this question: “I don’t think reproductive women should be concerned about their future fertility if they receive this COVID-19 vaccine. The data we have so far is that the vaccine is very safe.”
Clarke said she didn’t think there was anything that would change her mind about the vaccine. Not even this uplifting tale from 35-year-old Anna Almendrala. She fell ill with COVID after her fertility treatment.
In one video, she can be seen lying on her stomach, breathless.
“The scary thing is that things can change in no time with this virus,” she said.
A few days later, she was in the hospital, writing a farewell letter to her daughter.
When asked what she would say to women who don’t want the vaccine at all, Almendrala referred to the prevalence of COVID in the United States.
“I would say at this point … with the virus so prevalent, you choose to either get vaccinated or receive COVID,” she said.
Almadrala said she was relieved that there was a vaccine and that she would happily take it – when it was her turn.
“I think what this experience has really shown us is that we already have so much to be thankful for,” she said. “I almost felt like I was a few days away from losing everything.”
Learn more about our CBS News series “Women and the Pandemic” below:
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