Fallopian tube loss can be an emotionally distressing occurrence, particularly when it is complicated by an ectopic pregnancy loss, a complex womens’ health condition such as endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease. One of the questions that many women come away asking is: how will this effect my chances of having children in the future?
The Fallopian tube is an important structure residing within the pelvic cavity – it’s role is to facilitate the movement of the ovum from the ovaries to the uterus. It is also where sperm and egg meet if fertilisation is to occur and then the fertilised egg makes its way to implant in the uterine wall.
Occasionally, some women are only born with one Fallopian tube (or only one ovary for that matter), but more commonly, some women lose their Fallopian tubes as the result of an ectopic tubal pregnancy requiring its removal, or their Fallopian tube may become blocked or scarred in the context of certain condition such as endometriosis with adhesions, or untreated chlamydia, leading to pelvic inflammatory disease. The questions is, is it still possible to become pregnant with only one Fallopian tube?
The Fallopian tube is not a fixed structure – attached firmly to the ovary and immobile. Instead, the Fallopian tube is actually a hyper mobile structure within the pelvis – with little fimbriae at the end of the tube, similar to fingers on your hand – when the ovary is ready to release an egg, the Fallopian tube fimbriae “pick up” the egg, and allow it to move into the tube.
One study revealed that there was evidence that the corpus luteum was present in the opposing ovary in 32% of pregnancies in women that had a single Fallopian tube- which indicated that the opposite ovary had released the viable egg and had been collected by the Fallopian tube even though it was not on the “same side.” [1] So that represented a 1 in 3 chance of becoming pregnant from an egg released from the opposite ovary, even with only one Fallopian tube!
If you have experienced a condition resulting in the loss or damage to one of your Fallopian tubes, the good news is, it does not have to be a barrier to conceiving naturally – and optimising your reproductive health, practicing intentional preconception care for both yourself and your partner and learning to chart and understand your cycles to supercharge your chances of conceiving. If you would like to discuss these options more, and get tailored support and advice for your situation, why not book in a Nurture consultation with the Natural Fertility Collective.
[1] Jackie A. Ross, Amelia Z. Davison, Yasmin Sana, Adjoa Appiah, Jemma Johns, Christopher T. Lee, Ovum transmigration after salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy, Human Reproduction, Volume 28, Issue 4, April 2013, Pages 937–941, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/det012
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