Pregnancy rates after IVF vary throughout the US, but average between 20 to 25 percent per treatment cycle according to the latest national data. These rates are for a single treatment cycle. In contrast, the pregnancy rate after sterilization reversal is a long-term rate, since there is a probability that pregnancy will occur naturally every month following tubal repair. The cost of tubal ligation reversal is approximately the cost of an IVF treatment cycle. In my experience, the mini-laparotomy approach is superior because it allows more precision in microsurgical suturing technique than the laparoscopic approach.
Recovery time is similar for the two different approaches.
In a study at the Chapel Hill Fertility Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., the chance of re-occlusion of the tubes after reversal surgery was less than 5 percent. In such cases, patients are offered the option of repeat surgery without a professional fee or IVF at half of the normal fee. As with any procedure, the more experience the doctor has the better. A minimum of 50 to 100 tubal reversals should qualify a physician to be considered an expert in this technique. Ask the doctor about pregnancy and complication rates among the patients he or she has treated.