Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is the principal cause of infertility in women. But when diagnosed, it does not have to be a barrier to motherhood.
Health analysts from 71 countries, led by those at Melbourne's Monash University, have developed new resources to help women and doctors better understand the syndrome.
National Health and Medical Research Council's Centre for Research Excellence in PCOS Professor Helena Teede said the key message was that symptoms can be treated and a diagnosis does not mean infertility.
The disorder affects about 13 per cent of non-Indigenous women of reproductive age and one in three Indigenous women.
Common features include excess facial and body hair, irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain, acne and depression.
Source: SBS News
But those traits are not always present and Professor Teede said PCOS is often misdiagnosed.
Lorna Berry of Melbourne said it took 14 years for her to be diagnosed.
"It was like this missing piece of a puzzle has been slotted in and I could understand why, for many years ... I'd struggled with weight, I'd had an irregular cycle, I'd had trouble getting pregnant in my 20s - when I shouldn't have at all," she said.
Melbourne woman Eilidh Di Natale said she was diagnosed with PCOS four years ago but has since become a mum.
"For my husband and I, it's just amazing that we're actually now parents. We look at each other still every day and think, 'where did this baby come from?' We're just so happy," she said.
"The diagnosis for me came as quite a shock. The main thing was, 'was I going to be able to have children?' And it was something that sort of made me quite anxious for a couple of years."
It is an anxiety often experienced by women with PCOS, and something Professor Teede wants to dispel.
"Some of the most disappointing stories are women who are told that they won't be able to have children. And that's just not true," she said.
"We know that women with PCOS in Australia, with access to good treatment, can have the same family size as women who don't have the condition."
