IVF vs. Tubal Reversal - Factors to Consider in Making a Choice
October 6th, 2008Getting your tubes tied is considered permanent. But what happens if you are one of the thousands of women who changes her mind every year? Your doctor would most likely say in vitro fertilization or IVF is your only answer. What he might not tell you, or might not even know is available, is to get a tubal ligation reversal. Let’s look at IVF vs. tubal reversal below.
A tubal reversal is a micro-surgical technique of repairing the fallopian tubes where they were cut. The preparation is minimal for the surgery including some review of your tubal ligation operative records. If you have a BMI greater than 30, it is suggested you get it down for your own surgical safety. You can check out this page to determine your BMI if you need to: www.tubal-reversal.net/body-mass-index-bmi.php
With an IVF, however, there is a course of drugs given to you. You will receive both intramuscular and subcutaneous shots. Some stimulate and some prevent premature ovulation. Most of them will be taken over the course of a few days which means it’s not just a one time shot and you’re done. Ouch! And that’s just the beginning preparation.
Now your doctor gets to remove the eggs…or does he? Well, yes, but not before another injection just before ovulation. Your doctor will also be monitoring you to make sure he can catch the eggs before they being their journey to your uterus. He will use a needle to capture the eggs that your body has been overstimulated to produce. Seems like you are to be around a lot of needles.
Finally, you will have to wait for a few days while the fertilization process goes on in the lab after which you come back for the implantation. Usually you will get more than one fertilized egg implanted. You will be at risk for a multiple birth if everything works right but more eggs will increase your chances of a resultant pregnancy. And you will get more shots.
This is when you hold your breath hoping everything will go OK. Of course,this will depend upon things like how skilled your doctor is and how careful he was in implanting the embryos among other things. If it doesn’t work there are always those embryos you had frozen, if you did. And you get to go through all the shots and preparing your body again. Some of those may not happen if you do choose frozen over another fresh cycle. All this hyper stimulation and such could have some adverse affects on both you and your child, if successful. Be sure to check out the Internet and learn about the potential risks of IVF.
Add to all of the above the success rates of each individual course of treatments. Depending upon where you look it is from a 10 - 30% chance you will get pregnant. Higher percentages for more embryos being implanted.
Now compare all that and all the things left out of this article due to space limitations and you will see that having a tubal reversal could be a much better option. The success rates for tubal reversal can vary depending upon your chosen surgeon. This makes choosing the best tubal reversal doctor and center a matter of utmost importance. At the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center where they publish their specific pregnancy rates after a tubal reversal, you will see that it is an overall 69%. Your potential success rate will depend upon several things including your age, tube length left and type of ligation procedure used. The good news is that once the surgery is done, you get to try over and over again to “make a baby” without having to pay any more money.
So let’s look at the cost of IVF vs. tubal reversal. One course of IVF treatments will average $10,000 to $12,000 with some going as high as $20,000. That’s just one cycle. On average, doctors will tell you to expect to go through at least three cycles. On the other hand, the average cost of a tubal reversal is $8,000 to $9,000 and you will find that, too, can go up to $20,000 or higher. Don’t pick one of those later surgeons costing that much. You can see that it usually is much cheaper to go with tubal reversal rather than IVF