Getting Pregnant - Tubal Ligation Reversal & Endometrial Ablation

"I had an endometrial ablation. Can I get a tubal ligation reversal?"

The above is a question that is received over and over at various tubal ligation reversal centers, websites, and forums. Now why would this question be coming up? What is an endometrial ablation?

Usually an endometrial ablation is a procedure that is done on women who have excessive bleeding which cannot be controlled by some other method. Its the last thing to try to stop the excessive bleeding before a hysterectomy which is a surgical procedure. What that means is that the ablation procedure does not involve surgery and therefore is a relatively safer alternative to hysterectomy. Excessive bleeding can cause its own problems which is why such steps may be taken.

What is done during the ablation is that the endometrial lining of the uterus is removed. Along with that layer, the regenerative endometrial cells are removed as well. Lets explain this a tad better.

Every month the endometrial cells regenerate the endometrial lining of the uterus. As the month goes by, the lining gets thicker. If you get pregnant, the fetus implants in this lining and this is the way it is nurtured during gestation. However, if you do not get pregnant, that lining is sloughed off and excreted from the body. That is what causes womens periods.

For women who just have too much bleeding, after other things are tried first, an endometrial ablation will be done. Your doctor will remove the lining and the regenerative cells. Most methods of doing this fall into two categories. Either freezing is done or the layer is burned off in some manner with the latter method being the most common.

As there is no longer an endometrial layer to support a fetus, your doctor will strongly suggest you have tubal ligation and most women do. However, for some reason some women change their minds. According to the CDC, about 25% of women who have tubal ligation regret the decision and want to reverse it. How many women who have had endometrial ablation feel this way is not something that we have statistics for. However, as mentioned above, it is a question that comes in regularly to tubal ligation reversal doctors.

So can you get a tubal ligation reversal or should you? The answer is, it depends. Although most of the regenerative endometrial cells are removed, the procedure will not remove all of them. In fact, within five years, many women will find their periods return. This means there is a possibility that you could maintain a pregnancy. Some women never get a tubal ligation after their ablation and some of those do get pregnant and have babies. The good news is that the younger you are the better your chances of getting pregnant following a tubal ligation reversal after endometrial ablation. However, there are risks and you should learn more about these.

Learn more about endometrial ablation and how you can get pregnant again following a tubal ligation reversal in the blog series on the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center website at tubal-reversal.net. Visit the message board and get your questions answered.