All About Tubal Ligation Reversal

Many women are undertaking tubal ligations on the understanding that the procedure is reversible. What every woman needs to understand, though, is that the tubal ligation operation is not reversible in every case… and the results if it weren't able to be reversed would be heartbreaking. In many cases it is successful -- today we are looking at tubal ligation reversal and how it works.


Success Rates
The statistics differ according to the populations sampled, of course. What is important to understand before comparing tubal ligation reversal success figures is that the chance of a woman younger than 30 trying to have a baby is around 85% in one year. The chance of success for a woman older than 30 trying to have a baby is around 80% in one year. Don’t compare the success figures to an assumed 100% success rate in the general population -- it won’t give you an accurate picture.

One set of figures
A set of figures collected by a gynecologist are as follows. Percentages indicate women in the sample who became pregnant within 12 months of their reversal operation:
For tubal ligation reversal when the patient is younger than 40:
Clipping - 85-90%
Cut and tie - 55-70%
Diathermy (burning) - 75-90%

For tubal ligation reversal when the patient is older than 40:
Clipping - 40-45%
Cut and tie - 30-35%
Diathermy (burning) - 35-40%

In vitro fertilization
If the man and woman are otherwise healthy, and especially if they have had healthy children before the reversal, in vitro fertilization is quite a reliable method of achieving pregnancy. However in most areas across the world this will not be covered by public healthcare, and many private insurers also do not cover the cost.

Alternatively, you can bypass the reversal altogether and go straight to in vitro fertilization.