Tubal reversal vs. IVF: Why IVF is the best choice
If you got your tubes tied, you felt certain that having babies was not something you wanted in your future. But sometimes, feelings and life factors change, and you may find yourself longing for children. The good news is, achieving pregnancy after tubal ligation is possible for most women. If you’re exploring tubal reversal vs. IVF, it’s important understand that tubal reversal may not be available in your area, and that IVF generally provides the best chance of success. Our Connecticut fertility specialist, Andrew Levi MD, is happy to provide the information you need as you decide about your next steps.
What to know about tubal reversal vs. IVF
With a tubal reversal, microsurgical techniques are used to reconnect the severed fallopian tubes, allowing egg and sperm to meet naturally to create an embryo, which then can travel down the tube and implant into the uterus. This procedure is uncommon and not always available, but the good news is that IVF is a safe, readily available fertility treatment that provides a faster path to pregnancy for most people. With IVF, the fallopian tubes are not necessary because eggs are retrieved directly from the ovaries and fertilized in a laboratory to create embryos, which are then transferred to the uterus.
If you’re considering trying for a pregnancy after tubal ligation, there are several things to know.
- IVF is a safe, less-invasive path to pregnancy after tubal ligation. IVF is a safe, proven fertility treatment. Each year, it brings about 100,000 babies into the world, in the United States alone. The procedures used in IVF are quick and minimally invasive, with little to no recovery time required.
- Success rates matter. IVF offers a higher per-cycle success rate than tubal reversal, so for most women, IVF is the quickest and most effective way to achieve pregnancy after tubal ligation.
- Cost and insurance coverage are important considerations. Tubal reversal must be performed by a highly trained microsurgeon, which may require travel, and the procedure is rarely covered by health insurance. IVF, on the other hand, is more likely to be covered by insurance, and you can move forward whenever you are ready, close to home, with no travel required.
- IVF helps beat the biological clock. Egg quality and quantity naturally decline over time, and in a woman’s mid-30s, fertility typically begins to decline significantly. IVF is both easily accessible and a rapid path to pregnancy for women of any age. When declining egg supply is a consideration, we carefully tailor IVF treatment to maximize results. For women whose egg supply is very low, IVF with donor eggs offers the same chances of success as fertile young women have in their 20s or early 30s.
- Future family building. Many women who choose IVF are able to store frozen embryos for future attempts at pregnancy, so one treatment cycle often provides the potential for future siblings.
- IVF can overcome common causes of infertility. If you’ve decided to try for a baby, your first step should be to make an appointment for both partners to have comprehensive fertility testing. If either the male or female partner has fertility issues, such as a low sperm count or low egg supply, we will customize your treatment to maximize your chances of success.
Learn more about how to achieve pregnancy after tubal ligation
Andrew Levi MD, our Connecticut fertility specialist, has extensive experience with helping patients understand the differences between tubal reversal vs. IVF, and he is happy to meet with you to answer all of your questions. To schedule an appointment to discuss pregnancy after tubal reversal, contact us today.
