Thousands of women get their fallopian tubes tied each and every year for many different reasons. This procedure is called a tubal ligation and is very common for women to have after giving birth to their last child.

However, some women change their minds and want to have their ligation reversed. For some, this might happen very soon after having her tubes tied, but for the most part it is usually a decision made by women who have been sterilized years before. Thankfully, there is a procedure called a tubal ligation reversal that can be very successful for most women.

How do we know this can be successful for most women wanting to untie their tubes?  Like most things in the health field, there was a study done and data collected to come up with pregnancy statistics.  The pregnancy statistics are based on many factors and these factors help us determine the chances for getting pregnant.

For one thing, it makes a big difference as to what the woman's age is at the time of the tubal ligation reversal. If a woman has had her tubes tied at age 30, for instance, and decides she wants that procedure reversed at age 40, then her fertility levels as a whole have reduced.

This is because women are born with a certain number of eggs in their ovaries and they don't make more eggs. Therefore, as those 10 years have passed a woman's fertility has naturally decreased. The eggs she does have are older as well.  

So the older you are the lower your chances are for getting pregnant.  However, this does not mean there is no chance.  This data just means that a woman over 40 does not have as good a chance as a woman under 35.

Another factor found in the pregnancy statistics as to whether the tubal ligation reversal would be successful is how long the leftover remnants of the tubes are when reattached. Depending upon how the doctor did the original tubal ligation procedure, a woman may have very little of her actual tubes left.

The length of the fallopian tubes plays a part in the fertilization process as that is where the sperm fertilizes the egg and the earliest development of the soon-to-be fetus begins.  The closer your tubes are to the original length the better for your fertilization chances.  Again, short tubes do not mean your chances are zero, just that they are not as good as someone whose tubes are longer after the tubal ligation reversal.

Finally, another factor that doctors take into consideration is how the original surgeon did the tubal ligation. There are several methods that could have been used including clips, rings, cauterization, ligation/resection and even mechanical devices.

Your tubal reversal surgeon will likely ask you to provide your original records from when you had your tubes tied so that he can see exactly what he has to work with during the reversal surgery. Tubal ligation reversal may be possible, but the doctor will weigh all of the options to see if the procedure appears that it will be successful.

As you can see, the study did provide some very useful pregnancy statistics to help determine your chances of success after a tubal ligation reversal.  Remember that just because your chances might not be as good as another woman's, it does not mean you won't successfully get pregnant after the surgery.  Be sure to talk to your reversal doctor and learn more.

The best <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tubal-reversal.net/">tubal ligation reversal</a> doctors are at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center. The <a rel="nofollow" href="http://press.tubal-reversal.net/2009/tubal-reversal-pregnancy-study-2009-overview.html">pregnancy statistics</a> from the 5000 patient study are available at their website at http://www.tubal-reversal.net/ Check it out and check out the message board too.