Can a Woman Get Pregnant After Tubal Ligation?

Tubal ligation is done to prevent pregnancy in women and is often referred to as, "getting your tubes tied." While tubal ligation is thought to be a permanent fix to prevent pregnancy, it is still possible for the procedure to fail and to get pregnant. Failure of a tubal ligation is higher if the procedure was done during a C-Section. Getting pregnant can occur right after your tubal ligation surgery, or it can happen years after the procedure has been done. Ten years after you have had your tubal ligation surgery, your chances of becoming pregnant increase with a 1.9% chance.

Having a tubal ligation is a great form of birth control even though it is not one-hundred percent effective. This is because it does not require you to take a pill everyday or to get a shot every couple of months. Once tubal ligation is done, it is done, and you can not ever forget about it like you can with a birth control pill. To prevent pregnancy from taking birth control pills, it has to be taken exactly right with no room for negligence or error. This means that if you miss a pill, you are increasing your chances on getting pregnant. If you get pregnant with tubal ligation, it is because of your body and not because you physically did anything wrong.

The reason for a failed tubal ligation surgery depends on how the surgeon did your procedure. Most surgeons will cut your tubes in half, or remove a small section of the fallopian tubes, and cauterize the ends, which can make it possible for them to grow back at some point. Other possibilities of a failed tubal ligation are having clips or rings placed around the tubes to prevent the eggs from traveling through the fallopian tubes.

How much of the fallopian tubes remain will also determine how likely you are to get pregnant. If you have long fallopian tubes, it will increase your pregnancy chances, than women who have shorter fallopian tubes.

If you believe that you may be pregnant even though you have had tubal ligation surgery, then make an appointment with your gynecologist soon. One of the main risks with pregnancies following tubal ligation surgery is the possibility of having a tubal pregnancy. Tubal pregnancy means the fetus is growing in the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. Ectopic pregnancy is life-threatening and needs to be taken care of right away.

Some tubal pregnancy symptoms can include mild to severe pain on one or both sides of your lower stomach, stomach pain along with spotting, fainting or dizziness after you have missed your period or had a very light period.

There are some women who want to get pregnant after their tubal ligation. If you are one of those women, then an option for you is to have a reversal tubal ligation surgery. However your chances are slim that you will ever get pregnant following a tubal ligation, or following a reversal surgery. So if you have not had tubal ligation surgery done, then do not do it unless you are absolutely certain that you do not want children.

If you want to cut out any chance of ever getting pregnant and want a tubal ligation surgery that is permanent, have your surgeon remove your entire fallopian tube and cauterize it. By doing this, your tubes cannot reconnect because there is nothing there.