This is fourth in a series of articles for women wanting to become pregnant after tubal ligation reversal and who are age 40 and older. This article describes the multiple benefits of tubal reversal compared with IVF (in vitro fertilization).
The first of the series is Tubal Ligation Reversal After Age 40| Introduction.
Tubal Reversal is More Successful
Untying tubes (ligation reversal) can be very successful in allowing women to become pregnant. The success rate at A Personal Choice for tubal ligation reversal on average is 70%. Reversal of tubal band (Falope rings) and tubal clip (Filshie or Hulka clip) ligations can give success rates as high as 80%. The success rate of reversal of tubal ligation is related to a woman’s age, method of tubal ligation, and health of the fallopian tube. Our average success rate of 70% is much higher than the average IVF success rate of 30% per treatment cycle.
Tubal Reversal is More Affordable
The cost of tubal reversal at A Personal Choice is half the cost of a single cycle of IVF! The costs depends on both method of payment and the doctor you choose to do your tubal reversal. A single cycle of IVF costs $9,000 -$12,000. If donor eggs or intracytomplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) must be used then the cost for IVF is even more.
Tubal ligation reversal is a less expensive alternative to IVF. When one considers that a successful tubal reversal also allows couples to become pregnant more than one time, then it is easy to see that reversal of tubal ligation is a more cost-effective treatment than IVF.
Tubal Reversal is More Natural
Many of our patients with blocked tubes or tied tubes tells us they chose tubal reversal surgery because it results in becoming pregnant naturally while IVF does not. Obviously, there is nothing ‘natural’ about reversal surgery; however, many patients want to correct the tubal blockage they initial requested, avoid the use of high dose hormones required for IVF, and become pregnant through normal sexual intercourse.
Tubal Reversal Allows More Chances to Conceive
Tubal reversal surgery allows women the chance to become pregnant with every ovulation (release of an egg). With IVF, the chance to become pregnant is limited to a single treatment cycle. The average success for tubal reversal is 70%. This average has typically been based on 1-2 years of observation after the reversal procedure. The cumulative pregnancy rate continues to climb over a woman’s entire reproductive lifetime after reversal surgery.
Tubal Reversal Leads to Normal Conception
With tubal reversal surgery, pregnancy occurs by the normal reproductive process and in the normal environment of the woman’s body. As a result, the chance of having twins or high order multiples (triplets or more) is less than after IVF which has a multiple pregnancy rate of 33%. Tubal reversal pregnancies are less likely to be higher risk multiple gestation pregnancies.
Tubal Reversal Restores What ‘God Intended’
Guilt or regret after having tubes tied can be very intense. Many of our patients feel reversing their blocked tubes allows them to be more like God intended them to be. Reversing the decision to have a tubal ligation, which may have been made at a time of their life under stressful circumstances, provides a sense of relief and satisfaction. Some tubal reversal patients who express this feeling do not consider having more children as their primary concern.
Tubal Reversal Leads to A Sense of Well-being
Many of our tubal reversal patients express a greater sense of well-being and feel a greater sense of womanhood after their ability to naturally conceive is restored. They sometimes experience an improvement in their relationship with their spouses and in their sexual life.
Tubal Reversal Benefits – Conclusion
Infertility is a common and serious problem for many couples. There are many reasons for not being able to become pregnant. IVF can overcome many of these reasons; however, the IVF process can be expensive, demanding, and often unsuccessful. Tubal reversal is specifically designed to help those women whose predominant cause of their infertility is having had their tubes tied.
Most doctors would agree that identifying and treating the cause of the illness is the best approach to curing disease. This is no different when the cause of infertility is simply the result of a blocked tube. Tubal ligation reversal can be a very beneficial treatment for the woman who only has blocked tubes.
The next article in this series, Tubal Reversal After 40 | Risks, will discuss the risks associated with tubal reversal surgery.
Submitted by Dr. Charles Monteith
