I Had An Ectopic, Can I Get Pregnant With Only One Fallopian Tube?

Question:

Hello, I am from India and I hope you would be able to help me.

I had an ectopic pregnancy 3 months back wherein I had to undergo laparoscopic surgery to remove my right fallopian tube where the fertilized egg had embedded.

Both my ovaries are intact.I didn't have any fertility issues before conceiving. My question is whether it is possible for left fallopian tube to collect the eggs released by right ovary? Also, I wanted to check with you whether the ovaries release eggs in alternate months. In your opinion, approximately how long it might take for me to conceive the next time?

Please help me with these questions!

Answer:

In answer to your questions, yes, it is possible for an egg that is ovulated from the right side to enter through the left tube.

That is because no matter what side the egg ovulates from, it falls into a space in the middle, called the culdesac, where the end of the tubes are usually hanging. Eggs are released randomly from the ovaries. They do not alternate. The problem that you have is that you had an ectopic pregnancy. This is usually caused by scar tissue within the fallopian tube. The egg/embryo gets stuck on this scar tissue and cannot advance, therefore, it implants there. If you have scar tissue on one side, you are at risk for having scar tissue on the opposite side because usually the inflammation that affects one tube, also affects the other tube (that is where the scar tissue came from). For that reason, you are at increased risk of another ectopic on the opposite side.

Your chances of getting pregnant are still the same, despite only having one tube, but you have a 30-50% chance of an ectopic. The treatment that I would recommend at this point would be to consider IVF so that the tubes can be bypassed.

I hope you succeed in your efforts to become pregnant and that you keep in mind the risk involved with trying to get pregnant naturally with your past medical history.

Sincerely,

Edward Ramirez, MD, FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF
Monterey, CA