Pregnancy After Tubal Ligation

This is my own story. I know that I am not the only woman in the world who has been through infertility, but not everyone is aware of the fact that there is a new type of infertility going on within families around the world. I am speaking of women who have had children, then a tubal ligation, and find themselves divorced. Maybe they are in a new relationship, or married to a new husband who would like to have children. What are these women to do?

I was married to my high school sweetheart at the age of 17 years old and had my first child immediately after our first year anniversary. Three more babies followed within 4 years. I knew, even at my very young age, that I was extremely lucky to be so fertile. During the birth of my fourth child, a cesarean section was necessary. and having this surgery brought up the possibility of having a tubal ligation, (a permanent form of birth control) which seemed to be a very reasonable option for my husband and I.

I had hesitations even while signing the papers. I handed the forms back to the nurse, thinking, "What if something happens and I want to have another child?", "What if we were to get divorced?" I dismissed my thoughts and told myself that I had four beautiful babies, which is so much more than most people have, and nothing would happen to make me want any more. My marriage was safe and stable with no chance of divorce. Right?

You guessed it. I found myself divorced and raising our four children alone. We did just fine, and at that time I was happy that there were only four children, not five or six of seven, which I assured myself there would have been if I hadn't had the tubal ligation.

Soon after we were all settled in, I met a great guy who just fit. He fit with me, fit with the children, and fit with us as a family, in every way. The only problem was that he had no children and wanted a child of his own someday. Did you see this coming?

"We" as a couple, began looking into in vitro fertilization. This is a painful procedure for the female, because she has to undergo a huge series of shots to ripen her eggs, and then surgery to retrieve them. I thought "Well, we only want one baby, so in vitro would be a good choice. My plan was to get pregnant, have the baby, and my tubal ligation could remain intact. No problem !

After two excruciating failed attempts at in vitro, and around $20,000.00 later, my fertility Dr. recommended a Tubal Reversal. Worth a try, and a lot less expensive! Our insurance company at the time was Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. Luckily, it actually covered everything except the procedure itself which cost around $3,000.00. A far cry from the original $20,000.00 we had spent in the months before.

One year after my tubal reversal, I was pregnant! There were 11 years between my last child and the one that I was carrying, and I was ready to be a new mommy again! Our little boy was born in November of 2000 by cesarean section with no complications. He weighed 5lbs. and 5oz. He is now going to be 7 years old and he is our special angel.

I now have two beautiful children since my tubal ligation reversal. In 2004,we had a beautiful baby girl who is now 3 years old, so you see, it is a possibility to reverse tubal ligations and have children again for any woman. Success is very limited with a reversal, and only about 20% of women who have surgery to reverse a tubal ligation will become pregnant. Of course, the way that your tubes were tied makes a big difference in your success. My tubes were, cut, burnt, and tied and I was still able to conceive twice so far since my surgery. I was very lucky to have the Dr.that I had and would be happy to recommend him to anyone who would like his information. When I had my surgery, there were a very limited number of really good birth control methods available, but this is not the case now.Today, there are a lot of new breakthroughs in birth control that have impressive results in preventing pregnancies.

I am hoping that this article reaches those who need it the most. I think that permanent birth control is very practical for women who are sure that they do not want any more children, BUT, if you have any doubts about having a tubal ligation, take your time and research the procedure first. Most importantly, do not let anyone, husband, Dr, friends or even your own mother influence your decision. There is a huge difference in the feeling of not wanting anymore children and the feeling of not being able to have anymore children. This has to be something that you are sure about for yourself.