Each year there are many women who decide that they want to have no more children and will choose to undergo the surgical procedure known as tubal ligation. However, around 20% of these women will regret the decision they made and then want their fertility restored. They decide to undergo a reversal of tubal ligation procedure in order to try for a natural pregnancy once more.

These women, when determining whether to have the original procedure reversed or not, need to take certain factors into consideration. A woman's age will have a serious affect on whether she has a natural pregnancy or not. It certainly follows that any woman over the age of 40 who has a reversal of tubal ligation has much less chance of conceiving naturally than say a woman who has the same procedure carried out when she is in her 30's.

Even though the chances of having a natural pregnancy when a woman in her 40's is reduced, she still has a much higher chance of conceiving than if she were to undergo IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) treatment. Additionally, one tubal reversal center did a study on their own patients and found that, of women over 40, 41% did conceive following the operation. That is better than any one time cycle of IVF and it's cheaper, too.

Something else which needs to be considered if a woman has a chance of having a natural pregnancy after her reversal of tubal ligation operation is how much viable fallopian tubes she has after the surgery is complete. This, of course, depends upon the damage done during the original procedure to tie her tubes. In those women where there is more than 2.5cm of viable fallopian tubes left following the reversal procedure, each has a greater chance of being able to conceive naturally.

Any woman wanting to have her tubes untied in order to try to conceive naturally should go for the microsurgical procedure. There is in fact evidence today that clearly shows that after microsurgical tubal ligation reversal has been completed around 95% of all women who had the procedure became pregnant within a year.

Above we have shown that a natural pregnancy is possible no matter the woman's age after she has undergone a reversal of tubal ligation. Yes, a woman over 40 will have a greater challenge trying to conceive naturally, but a tubal reversal will improve her chances.

Check out Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center and the resources at its website. See how a reversal of tubal ligation can improve your chances for a natural pregnancy even if you are over the age of 40. The surgeons and staff at CHTRC are the best.