Answering questions about conception after tubal reversal

Sometimes, life circumstances change and some women wish that they would not have had a tubal ligation. These patients often come to our Austin fertility specialists seeking information about conception after tubal reversal. While we do not offer this procedure at Texas Fertility Center, we can help you explore your other family-building options like IVF.

What are the odds of conception after tubal reversal?

Unfortunately, tubal reversal is not always successful. In fact, only about 30-40% of couples will conceive one to two years after extensive surgical reconstruction of the fallopian tubes. This can be disappointing for patients because tubal reversal can be costly and is often not covered by insurance.

However, women and couples don’t need to despair. Our Austin fertility specialists offer an effective fertility treatment option, which often produces higher pregnancy success rates.

IVF as an alternative to tubal reversal

Our Austin fertility specialists find that in vitro fertilization (IVF) usually represents a more promising treatment option because it typically produces much better success rates for patients and in a shorter time frame.

Patients may choose to attempt surgery for tubal reversal rather than IVF. In some cases, they may find that their insurance covers surgery, but not IVF. In other situations, they want to try to conceive on their own before moving to fertility treatment.

Regardless, if conception after tubal reversal does not occur for a patient, she should consider IVF. This is usually the best recommendation, even if a follow-up hysterosalpingogram (HSG) demonstrates an open (patent) tube. This is because tubal patency on HSG does not ensure that the fallopian tubes will function properly.

The process of IVF

The process of IVF in a patient who has undergone a tubal ligation is identical to the procedure for any other patient.

• The woman takes medications for ovarian stimulation for 8-14 days before she comes in for the egg retrieval procedure.
• An embryologist fertilizes these eggs in the IVF laboratory using sperm from the woman’s partner or a sperm donor. The embryologist then monitors the development of the resulting embryos for up to seven days.
• Our embryologist will freeze any embryos that develop into healthy blastocysts by Day 7 after the egg retrieval.
• The next step occurs after the woman’s next menstrual period (typically 12-14 days after the egg retrieval). She will start taking either estrogen pills or Femara to develop a thick uterine lining.
• Once her lining is adequate (at least 7 mm thick), she will start taking progesterone to prepare her uterine lining for implantation.

On the sixth day of progesterone, one of our Austin fertility specialists will transfer one healthy embryo to the woman’s uterus, and then monitor her for pregnancy.

Contact us to schedule an appointment with one of our Austin fertility specialists and learn more about conception after tubal reversal.