Tubal Reversal

Tubal ligation is the process of having your “tubes tied.” A tubal ligation reversal (or “tubal reversal”) reconnects or reopens the fallopian tubes. More than 650,000 women have tubal ligation surgery per year and about 6 percent of women decide to have this surgery reversed within five years. Tubal reversal may allow women to once again become pregnant naturally. It is performed by a reproductive surgeon with specialized training for this procedure.

Tubal ligation reversal is considered a major surgery. The procedure takes several hours and most women are hospitalized for at least two days following surgery. The success of the surgery depends on the specific method that was originally used in the tubal ligation, and the state of the fallopian tubes. Time also lends a factor in determining how successful the tubal ligation reversal has been. The longer a woman waits to have the reversal performed, the less successful she will be in trying to conceive.

Success rates for pregnancy following tubal reversal vary, with up to 75 percent of women conceiving. Factors to consider aside from the success of the procedure itself include: the status of the fallopian tubes, the woman’s age, egg quantity and quality, uterine factors, and male fertility.