Can you get pregnant with one blocked tube

[toastonjam]

I have one blocked tube with adhesions and one healthy, clear tube.

My ovaries were also stuck to my uterus with adhesions but they have been surgically 'unstuck'

Am I still able to get pregnant naturally? My surgeon seems optimistic but I'm terrified. I seem to be having endless problems 😭

Surgeon doesn't know why I had adhesions as it wasn't endometriosis.

Please can someone help me I'm really worried

@Anon8729

I'm sorry to hear you are going through similar.
I have had a laparoscopy and hsg which have confirmed that mine is NOT a hydrosalpinx. This was a very big fear I had prior to the laparoscopy that it would be that but it apparently isn't. Mine is just blocked with adhesions that my surgeon said could be congenital as there doesn't appear to be a reason for it. (?!) how much of that I believe I don't know but I've got to trust his opinion I guess.

If yours is a hydrosalpinx I would definitely have it removed. X

Yes you can. I was in a similar situation but ended up with a second ectopic (fiest ine blocked a tube and had to have it removed). I then had the second removed and have IVf and got pregnant first time.

@toastonjam yours sounds exactly the same as mine. I got pregnant and stayed pregnant finally on my 6th embryo transfer and have a gorgeous 1 year old boy. It took 5 years from starting naturally to getting pregnant. However, for me, i think there is some undiagnosed autoimmune disease at play as it took blood thinners to finally work and since giving birth I’ve developed alopecia and now lost all my hair 😭

have you had thyroid etc to rule out any of that? It’s so so hard, and impossible for it not to become all consuming and stressful. Have you had hormone levels etc checked? Has your partner had sperm checked? Keep your chin up and keep talking.

Hi, I had an ectopic pregnancy and I ended up having my tube removed. My understanding is if you have one tube which is fine then you can still get pregnant. I think if you have a tube which is damaged then you would have an increased risk of an ectopic pregnancy, so I would just look up the symptoms just so you're aware of them.

I had 2 babies after my tube was removed, and as others have said, you still have a chance every month as the tube you have left swoops over and sucks up the egg, v clever.

Re ttc, if you think your ovulation isn't regular have you tried ovulation strips? There's also the sperm meets egg metro for ttc. We also used preseed, you could try the other hypoallergenic type PP recomended.

I know it's hard but try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Also, chlamydia doesn't just go away without treatment so you couldn't have had it if you haven't been treated for it.

@Rtc12

Thank you so much for your helpful comment. I'm sorry you had an ectopic.

I was pre warned about ectopics at my initial appointment with a different gynae so I have read about them and what to look out for. However after the surgery apparently the tube is completely blocked so it isn't at risk of ectopic (?!).

I've used ovulation tests for a long time and we often follow sperm meets egg :(

Thank you re chlamydia. I haven't ever suspected it but being told to go for sti screening at 30 years old when I've been with my husband for 11 years terrified me that I'd had something and not known about it when I was a teenager!

The only other thing is say I get a positive ovulation strip - we will have sex every other day after my period and then 2/3 days in a row leading up to the positive. I then stop testing as soon as I get a positive and we tend to stop ttc after that date. Then leave it until the next month. I do wonder if we stop too soon??

Thank you xx

@Anon8729 I had a salpingectomy followed by a salpingostomy as I had a hydrosalpinx. Surgeon wanted to save it. Why would you suggest having it removed since it can be saved? Does a salpingostomy hinder chances?

@Unsure21

I know you didn't direct this at me but my surgeon said if the tube has got to hydrosalpinx stage it will be so heavily damaged that it simply isn't worth saving. Depending on where the hydrosalpinx is located - it can be closer to your uterus or at the ovary - if closer to uterus then it can potentially be clipped where the damage is to save it. If at the ovary then it ideally needs removing. That's what I was told.

@toastonjam So I'm really hoping it's clipped then. I'll have to get it checked. Also have you considered fertility acupuncture? It's worth looking into.

@Unsure21

Hopefully it is yes - I'm sure your doctor will wanted to save it for a reason! If you have your post op letter it should say on there what you had done - if not your gp should have the details.

I haven't looked into acupuncture - I will have a look, thank you.

@toastonjam ah that's good you're not at risk of ectopic then.

Ooh so I think you are stopping too soon. Do you know what day generally you ovulate? How many days is your cycle?

This pic is what it says online about it. So every other day from day 8 of your cycle (think we did from day 10 tbh because I have long cycles), then when you get a positive you do it every day, then miss a day and do it one more time.

So having sex before you ovulate is good as the sperm will hopefully be in your tube waiting for the egg, it can live for up to 5 days. It takes sperm 30 mins to get to your fallopeon tube, so once you get a positive you want to be having sex that day.

From what I remember they say to then also do it the next few days and miss a day because sometimes your body can produce the hormone to release the egg, but it doesn't release it straight away it might take 48 hrs. For example if you got a positive ovulation on day 14,but your cycle is 35 days long, then I would think you weren't actually ovulating on day 14 I'd say it was later as it's sually 14 days before period starts.

I'm no expert/medical I just read up alot about it when we were ttc.

My cousin had a tube removed during to an ectopic pregnancy, she did conceive her son but it took around 2 years.

In my experience (no problems with tubes but took over a year both times to fall pregnant) sex after when I thought I ovulate did help.

Wishing you all the best

You usually ovulate from one side each month.

You have one unblocked tube so you'll be waiting for that side - although as posters have said the other side may be able to get a hold of the egg as well.

If the other side doesn't get a hold of the egg, I could imagine you'd be not getting your chance per cycle that month, in which case you'd be taking longer than typical for 30 year olds - there are lots of charts online showing chance per cycle per she and typical number of cycles to fall pregnant (usually shown over 6 months, one year, two years etc.

I know a lady who was left with one small part of an ovary and a fallopian tube on one side, and she has two lovely little ones. No IVF.

You'd also need to be very aware of your cycle length, whether it changes and maybe track it with an ava bracelet or one of those tampon style trackers etc. whose name I can't remember.

I have a large family, several children. I also have one ovary with a knackered looking tube and another dead ovary with a dead tube. I conceived all of mine on day 7 - 9 of my cycle. I was on clomid for a while but my last pregnancy was natural conception. Even my consultant couldnt believe it tbh. I may have just been lucky but I suspect other people may be in my position and unless they have had scans wouldnt even know it.

My cousin had a tube removed during to an ectopic pregnancy, she did conceive her son but it took around 2 years.

This was my experience also. It took almost two years for me to get pregnant following removal of a Fallopian tube. I completely and utterly understand that feeling of desperation, but it is relatively early days.

@mummymeister

Thank you. Yes I agree that there must be loads of people who unknowingly have this too - I'd never had known if it wasn't initially picked up on an unrelated scan I had!

@TheoTheopolis23

This is interesting as I was told by my doctor that ovulating from one side one month and the other the next is a myth. I could actually ovulate from one ovary every month up to 6 months?!

I've luckily been tracking my cycles for about 8 years anyway. My cycle length at the moment seems to be around 32-36 days. I am incredibly stressed and I wonder if stress has been lengthening my cycle.

@mummymeister Beautiful to hear and reassuring. There is hope for all of us.

Any update for you @toastonjam ?
Have been reading this thread carefully!

I had childhood appendicitis and had one blocked tube with hydrosalpinx and one tube that was passable but not great. Two ivf procedures both failed, but I’ve had five natural conceptions and two live births. Damaged tube did not prevent these. It’s been removed since as I’ve had ovaries removed because of family ovarian cancer.

So no, the damaged tube does not necessarily need to be removed. I was given early scans at each pregnancy because of the risk of an ectopic.

DS1 took 3 years to conceive and DS2 over 4. I hope you get there - but it can take a while.

PS I had one of the best fertility consultants in the country at that time, since died sadly - Jonathan Hewitt at Liverpool Womens, and he never suggested removing the tube.