Tubal Ligation Reversal

Hi T....
I had my tubes tied in 1991 after my 3rd child was born. In 1997 I met my current husband and we had talked that it would be nice to have children of our own someday. In November 2002 we went to my GYN, who btw had done some minor surgeries on me for adhesions, to see what he thought about the tubal reversal and what he thought our chances would be. He said that the national average was 33% success rate of getting pregnant (he had done 2 at that point and 1 had gotten pregnant and the other had not). Anyhow, on December 2002 I went in for my surgery, which is considered major surgery. I was in the hospital from Thursday to Saturday night. We were able to start trying a little over 2 weeks after the surgery but were told that to be "gentle" as the tubes could tear apart as they are only stitched together. In November 2003 our FIRST child was born. In April 2005 our SECOND child was born. Now, much to our surprise, we are getting ready to have our THIRD child. So as you can see we definitely beat the odds and got our monies worth, LOL. I was told that over time scar tissue will build up and possibly block the tubes so that the eggs can't get through to the tubes so the risk of tubal pregnancies increase with the amount of years after the procedure itself. GOOD LUCK and if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me!!

A.

I presonally thought that was the case also. when you get your tubes tied there isno reversal?

I had mine cut, tied and burned so I preobably have NO chance at this? whichsux for me cuz I want another baby soooooooooo bad!!

I haven't had one or know anyone who has, but there are a couple of concerns that came to my mind that I'd probably ask if I were going to consider it:

* How long is a reasonable timeframe to expect to get pregnant?
* If for some reason it doesn't work, what's the next step?
* If we do the reversal, is there a risk of an embryo getting stuck in the fallopian tube (ectopic pregnancy)?
* What is the likelihood that the tube would become blocked?
* Is there any benefit to doing an IVF cycle vs. tubal ligation reversal?

Wow, I had a tubal ligation, and it was my understanding that there was no turning back. Once it was done, the only option left was invitro. I had mine done 4 1/2 years ago

I think that a lot of these women responding are answering based upon getting tubes tied, and not a tubal ligation. Just in case anyone's confused, they're not at all the same. Tubes being tied is totally reversible, whereas in a ligation, a section of your tubes is cut out and the ends are burned. When your tubes are tied, there's still a possibility of an egg working through the knots, but with a ligation, there's no reversal that I was aware of. My doctor told me that the only possibility of conception following a ligation is invitro.

My aunt had her original operation close to 30 yrs ago and the reversal about 20 yrs ago. Her and her then new husband wanted 1 baby, they ended up with 3...A surprise pregnancy of twins for the 2nd pregnancy! It took close to a year for her to get pregnant and I think the total turn around time from having the reversal, babies and tubes retied was around 3 years. Goodluck and becareful what you wish for you might get multiple babies!:)

Hi T.,
I am also going to have my tubes untied. I have researched quite a bit online, but I have not met with anyone yet. If you dont mind I would like to know what you find out!!! I live in the Indianapolis area, and so far I have only found a few medical centers that perform this type of operation.
Hope to hear from you soon!!!

HI, I don't have any first hand experieince on this, we are in the process of saving up the funds at this point still. my tubal was almost 6 years ago now and i'm getting married next weekend and we are hoping to get the ball rolling by the first of the year.

After a year of research though I can answer most of the PP questions to some degree and yours as well, though a lot depends on the doctor you choose, the way they perform the surgery and how your tubes were actually tied.

Most women and most clinics give about a 70 percent chance of conception and it's generally within the first year. your percentages go up or down based on the length of the remaining tubes, so the less that was taken out or damaged during your tubal the better your chances, this isn't anything that your surgeon can predict though, they don't know the condition of your tubes untill they are inside and doing the reversal, but remember you only actually need 1 tube for this to work.

If it doesn't IVF is a very real option, and while generally speaking a reversal is MUCH cheaper it also gives you the oppertunity to have more than just one more baby without going through it all again like you would have to with IVF, personally i'm thinking 3 more but DH says 1 so i think we've settled on 2, LOL.

As for ectopic pregnancy your chances do go up, but not significantly, from what i've read it seems that your chances of an ectopic are no greater than they are while your tubes are tied, and unless you have a history of ectopic pregnancy i wouldn't overly worry about it, though they do say that you monitor your cycles and test early and get immediate prenatal care to be sure.

There is also always a chance your tube or tubes would become blocked by scar tissue, this is where finding a really good doctor comes into play, and why they don't seem to give over an 80 percent chance of concieving after the surgery

Recovery time after the surgery is also very much based on the doctor you find. this surgery can be done threw two very small incisions (my tubal was doen this way) and the recovery time is then only a few days, if they do a 2 inch bikini cut which is similar to a c-section cut the recovery time is closer to two weeks, and they say you should wait about 6 weeks before tryig to concieve.

Who are you meeting with? I have chosen to meet with Dr Collins at the reproductive center here in ohio due to the cost (it's cheaper than a LOT of places in state) and
i like his results. though if you can easily and cheaply leave state there are a LOT of otehr places taht specialize in JUST this procedure where you can get it done for as little as 5, 000. good luck.