Tubal Reversal after 11 years...are my chances good?  

No, they did not tell me. In fact, when I had it done I was 21 and the doctor said, "...oh you can always have it reversed..." I sort of always had a feeling though that he was not honest. I've been doing a lot of research and some places are claiming they have high success rates for women that only have clamps as opposed to being tied or cut.

Thanks for the input. I'm just hoping that maybe someone out there has had some success...

UUUMMMMMM It has been ten years since you had this done. That is a lot of years and a lot of scar tissue to develope. The body doesn't like invasive non tissue parts so it forms scar tissue around such parts and that is going to hinder your ability to concieve even after a reversal is done.

I had my tubal at the age of 30, after the birth of my second child. Since she had complications at the age of 4 weeks and I almost lost her, I was dead set against having any more children. I felt that I had been lucky enough to have two and I wasn't pushing the envelope any further. My doctor agreed to do the tubal but not until after intense questioning about my certainty for doing it, asking what I would do if I did not remain with my husband (and we DID end up divorcing), making sure I would accept the permanence of my decision, etc. She even inquired why my husband would not have a vasectomy rather than putting me through surgery (but that was a whole other story -- he wasn't willing to do it). It's really sad that your doctor didn't give you either more information or even a bit more time to make a solid decision. However, that's water under the bridge, I know.

There are many people who say that they are performing successful reversal surgeries. I don't know anyone who has had one but here is just one example of a San Diego Fertility Center claiming a really high success rate. I have to admit I'm very skeptical of their percentage claims but it's still an interesting read:

http://www.sdfertility.com/tubalreversal.htm

I really feel for your situation. I have been remarried for going on three years now to a fabulous man who is 12 years my junior. He, too, never had a child of his own and, although he has really become a dad in every sense of the word, we sometimes wish we could have had just one biological child together. In your case, you do have your age on your side.

Whatever you decide, I wish you luck... and I wish you peace with your ultimate decision.

Oh thank you so much for writing. Yes I wish my doctor would have explained all of the options, but I was young so maybe that was one of the reasons why he decided to put clamps on them instead of cutting them. My husband at the time absolutely refused to get a vasectomy as his reasoning was he would be less of a man. I never thought twice about not being with him for the rest of my life, but things change for a reason.

My husband is 6 years younger then me as well and he is a wonderful man. He is a great father to my kids and never tries to over-step his boundaries when it comes to being a "step parent." He is so good with kids in general I know he will be a proud parent. He already is proud of children that are not even his and he has never called them anything other than his children whenever he talks about them to other people. He does get a funny look when people hear that he is 25 and his oldest son is 12 :-)

I think I know deep inside that in order to have a child of our own together we need to think about invetro. I just can't seem to let go of some hope that it may be possible to have one the old fashioned way.

We have many similarities, that's for sure! My husband does the same things... he refers to my daughters as "his girls" all the time. It's hard not to feel that way when you're present in their lives every single day. They have almost no contact with their father (except for birthdays or Christmas... I'm sure you know the drill?) so my husband really filled a critical void in their lives.

LOL! Tell your husband to ignore the funny looks... we can relate to the age difference you mentioned! Mine just turned 31 and my older child is 16... his standing joke is "people will just think that I got started REALLY early" ;)

I'm sure that you're having a hard time accepting the idea of invitro right now, because of course you'd like to conceive naturally with someone that you really love... but, if you carry the thought around for the time being, you might get to the point where your heart and mind align and you decide that it's something you're ready to consider with confidence. It's a big step so I'm happy for you that you have enough time on your side to figure out what will be the best decision.

Thank you very much for a detailed response. I think I know deep down that a reversal is not going to be an option for me. It would be nice for all these doctors that are quick to take my money and want to do the procedure just be honest and tell me it can't be reversed.

Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!

Thank you for sharing --- a little hope is better than none at all. I just don't want to dish out money and then find out it was never an option for me.

Thank you. My tubes only have clamps on them and they were not cut. They did that so that a reversal one day could be possible---so I was told.

Thank you for your post; I really appreciate it!

Thank you!! I still have a lot of hope that we will have a child together.