IVF after tubal ligation is a very popular approach to increase your chances of getting pregnant. Tubal ligation is a known type of surgical sterilization for women or also known as permanent birth control. This medical procedure aims to block the passing of the created egg from the ovaries through the fallopian tubes. As well, it can block the movement of the sperm through the fallopian tubes, thus it prevents fertilization.
Usually, this procedure is done because of a woman’s personal decision or to prevent the manifestations of certain medical conditions. With time the woman might regret this decision, and to reverse this procedure is quite risky and invasive.
Therefore, in vitro treatment is usually recommended if a woman who has undergone a tubal ligation decides to get pregnant again. IVF after tubal ligation is certainly one of the best solutions to increase the chances of getting pregnant!
Let’s examine in detail how IVF can help you get pregnant with tubal ligation.
Tubal ligation explained
Tubal ligation, from a medical point of view, means to cut, tie or block the fallopian tubes. This procedure stops the movement of the reproductive material (eggs, and sperm) to the fallopian tubes. As a type of female sterilization, the tubal ligation is mostly used to prevent from having a spontaneous pregnancy (as opposed to pregnancy with in vitro fertilization).
In most of the cases, undergoing tubal ligation is an individual choice, and women in their thirties are most leaned to undergo this procedure. The reasons can be various, such as being at the pick of the carrier, being single or simply, being convinced that they can not imagine themselves in the role of a mother.
On the other side, tubal ligation can be recommended to prevent risks of ovarian and fallopian tube cancer development. Women who carry genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that can significantly increase cancer risks are usually recommended tubal ligation.
Even though this procedure has several pros, such as
- decreased cancer risk
- decreased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID due to sexually transmitted diseases)
- avoidance of hormonal therapy,
it has one huge con:
The regret of doing it
Very often, women who have done this at an early age, are later looking for a proper solution to get pregnant and overcome the tubal ligation. Statistics have shown that 1 to 26% of a million of women regret that they have done tubal ligation. Mostly the reasons are changing the marital status after tubal ligation, doing it at a very young age, or simply the wish for another child. And reversing this procedure is quite invasive.
It is important to understand that this sterilization procedure prevents natural fertilization. But, on the other side, it hasn’t been proven that it can cause the irregular function of the ovaries or menstrual irregularities. Therefore, the creation of eggs is not influenced by this procedure. Women who have undergone this procedure are usually still producing eggs, and their menstrual cycles are not influenced by the tubal ligation.
Based on all said, the woman’s chances of getting pregnant even with experienced tubal ligation are still not zero. The natural conception is a ruled out option for these women, but getting pregnant after this procedure is still possible.
And let’s see how.
How to get pregnant after tubal ligation?
There are several solutions available for starting a family after tubal ligation. Some of them are representing the surgical reverse of the procedure. The other group of options includes in vitro fertilization treatments. Following this, we would examine each group of solutions and evaluate their effectiveness.
Surgical reversal
The type and invasiveness of the surgical reversing of the tubal ligation are depending on the type of tubal ligation performed. Also, some tubal ligation procedures can be reversed, some of them no.
The surgical reverse of tubal ligation is possible when:
- Tubal ligation was performed with removal of a small section of the tubes
- Tubal ligation was performed with blocking the fallopian tubes with rings or clips
In other cases of tubal ligation, reversing is almost not possible.
As a procedure, the reversal of tubal ligation is more invasive than the tubal ligation itself. The surgery includes doing laparotomy, with a small incision under the belly button. In most cases, it takes some time for recovery, both in the hospital and at home.
The pregnancy rates after this procedure vary. The age, the type of tubal ligation that the woman had, the number of scar tissues in the pelvic area and the quality of the reversing surgery (If a scar tissue was formed after the reversing surgery), can affect the chance of getting pregnant.
Usually, where this procedure fails, the IVF treatments after tubal ligation can help.
In vitro treatments
In vitro fertilization can be greatly helpful when tubal ligation was performed with the method of tying up the fallopian tubes. The reverse surgery for tied up fallopian tubes is one of the most invasive among the group. With applying an IVF treatment for this purpose, the fallopian tubes don’t have to be reconnected and the treatments are non-invasive.
In vitro fertilization means “fertilizing in glass”. That means that the woman’s produced eggs are extracted directly from the ovaries with special IVF procedure, and are fertilized with the sperm in a fully controlled laboratory environment. After the fertilization, the embryos results are consulted with the patient, and finally, transferred to the woman’s uterus.
That way, the problem with blocked fallopian tubes can be solved and the chances for a successful and healthy pregnancy are increased.
Why IVF?
The title of this section is quite bold, you might think. But, it has been proven that the IVF treatments are more efficient in getting pregnant after tubal ligation. Here we would like to list several factors that support our statement.
Reversing of tubal ligation is an invasive procedure
Tubal ligation reversing is a highly invasive procedure requiring hospitalization and long-time recovery. The recovery time from these procedures can be one to two weeks, depending on the tubal ligation type that was done. This period usually requires a lot of patience, extensive after-surgery care and a higher level of pain endurance.
In 99% of the cases, the IVF treatments are done without any surgery needed. With the help of less invasive solutions and medications, these treatments rarely leave scars on your reproductive organs, neither can cause some kind of damage. The recovery time after the IVF procedure is less than 2 days.
The side effects of the procedure are usually premenstrual symptoms that can be easily facilitated.
Lower success rates of tubal reversal
The success rates of reversing tubal ligation are dependent on many factors. The main two are:
- If the woman doesn’t have any other fertility issue
- If the woman is below 40
Tubal ligation can not cope with other fertility issues. The statistics have shown that for women above 40, the success rates from reversed tubal ligation are twice as low as the success rates of IVF treatment. For women between 35 and 40 who are 100% fertile, the success rates are similar between the two approaches. Successful pregnancy rates after reversal surgery are 42-69%. Opposing this, the success rates from IVF Cyprus are from 80-98%.
Expenses
The prices for reversing a tubal ligation can overpass the prices for an IVF treatment in certain cases. For example, for women in advanced age (over 40) reverse of tubal ligation can cost more than an IVF treatment.
Risk for ectopic pregnancy
Getting pregnant with reversed tubal ligation can fail due to the development of the so-called “ectopic pregnancy”. Ectopic pregnancy was reported in up to 3% of the women who have done reverse tubal ligation. This means the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube. Ectopic pregnancies can be dangerous and surely require immediate medical treatments. An ectopic pregnancy can result in internal bleeding and rupture of the fallopian tubes and that might lead to fainting.
This is very unlikely to happen after an IVF treatment.
Getting pregnant after tubal ligation
IVF treatments are designated to cope with infertility caused by many different reasons. The assisted reproductive technology nowadays is developed to an advanced level, that 95% of the infertility problems can be resolved. Our clinic, EuroCARE IVF in Cyprus, has had this aim since the moment of the establishment – to implement treatments that are going to be helpful for many infertility scenarios.
In vitro fertilization means out-of-body fertilization with your own or donor’s reproductive material. When a couple of individuals decide to go with an IVF Cyprus treatment, then they are submitting to a high – tech monitored process of getting pregnant. IVF Cyprus can increase one’s chances to get pregnant thanks to the extensive fertility examinations and expert guidance at each step on the path to get pregnant. The reproductive material is also being examined in detail and the fertilization is done with the eggs/ sperm that are of the highest quality.
Therefore, today we have a list of treatments that can strongly increase your chances of getting pregnant, even with tubal ligation performed before. If a tubal ligation is absolutely the only reason why a couple/individual can not get pregnant, then their reproductive material can be used. If the infertility problem is of bigger proportions, then some of the third – party IVF treatments with an egg or sperm donor might be suitable.
There are several possible combinations of IVF treatments. And they are the following:
- Woman’s eggs and her partner’s sperm
- Woman’s eggs and donor sperm (For single or woman in a homosexual relationship)
- Tandem IVF: Woman’s eggs, donor eggs, and the woman’s partner’s sperm
- Donor eggs and the woman’s partner’s sperm
- Donor eggs and donor sperm
- Donated embryos
Let’s get the above mentioned IVF treatment scenarios closer to you!
IVF with own reproductive material
This type of treatment can be done if the fertility examination shows that the woman’s ovaries are in a healthy condition, and the tubal ligation is the only obstacle for getting pregnant.
The most recommended treatment, in this case, is IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI Cyprus).
The procedure frame for this type of treatment involves:
- Fertility examination (For both of the partners)
- Ovarian stimulation
- Egg and sperm retrieval
- Fertilization
- Embryo transfer
The fertility examination is the step at which usually the suitable treatment is recommended based on the results. If all the examinations that are part of this evaluation are regular, then the next step is the ovarian stimulation with proper medications.
The egg and sperm retrieval is the most important when it comes to resolving tubal ligation. A woman’s reproductive material is retrieved under light sedation and the woman is sleeping throughout the whole procedure. The doctor collects the eggs from the ovaries with ultrasound-guided aspiration. This procedure takes about 20 minutes and multiple eggs can be successfully collected.
The fertilization is done with intracytoplasmic sperm injection, outside the woman’s body, in highly controlled laboratory conditions. After fertilization, the embryos are left to develop to a certain stage and their quality is carefully examined. Before the final embryo transfer, the patient is consulted about the number and the embryos that are going to be transferred.
IVF with donor’s reproductive material
If the fertility examination has shown some anomalies and further fertility problems, except the tubal ligation, then using the donor’s reproductive material (eggs, sperm or both) can be very helpful. The procedure of the IVF with Egg Donation is almost the same as the standard IVF Cyprus treatment.
Additional to the standard IVF Cyprus with its own reproductive material is the step of selection of the Egg Donors. EuroCARE IVF in Cyprus is running an extensive selection process to obtain quality and success promising database of fresh Egg Donors. Furthermore, we offer the chance of using your own egg donor, if you prefer.
Since tubal ligation can lead to certain fertility complications, these treatments can offer a solution when other treatments fail.
Our Egg donation success rate of 59.1%, 45.9%, 30.5%, 30.9% and 27.3% for the age groups 20–22 years, 26–28 years, 32–34 years and over 38 years show that Egg Donation Cyprus might also be a suitable option for a woman to get pregnant after tubal ligation.
Pick the best treatment at EuroCARE!
IVF Cyprus is a great option if you’re going through difficulties to build your own family due to tubal ligation. Even if you regret the decision to have a tubal ligation, don’t raise your stress levels because EuroCARE might have a solution for you!
We offer many treatments that you can pursue if you have undergone tubal ligation. Our cutting-edge technology, expertise, and constant monitoring ensure the success of each step of conception.
Besides that, you can find low-cost IVF packages at EuroCARE, that would ease your circumstances for choosing a proper IVF treatment and get pregnant. Take your first step today and book a free consultation with the best fertility doctors in Cyprus!