Anonymous
You are talking about future pregnancies, right? According to the books I have, RAI treatments have not shown any effect on subsequent pregnancies. From THE THYROID GLAND (but I’ve read this elsewhere, too) “There has been no increase in fetal abnormalities or infertility after radioactive iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism, or even after much higher doses of radioactive iodine given for thyroid cancer. Women should not become pregnant for six months after this treatment.” This author, Joel I. Hamburger, is an MD, but I don’t know what type (endo, internist…?) Anyway, he goes on to state that of the various treatments for hyperthyroidism, he feels that RAI is the safest for women of childbearing age (actually, he thinks that this is the safest, PERIOD) because antithyroid drugs can cross the placenta to the baby in some cases, and CAN cause the baby problems, so very careful management of these drugs is required during a pregnancy. “Unless there is careful management and complete patient cooperation, there is a danger of fetal goiter or mental retardation. In contrast, there are no reports of genetic abnormalities caused by radioactive iodine.”