Nowadays, more than half of all women of reproductive age, often without knowing it, have gynecological diseases and abnormalities. In some cases, the only treatment may be surgery. That's why there are so many women with one ovary. The ovary is removed only as a last resort, when other treatment methods do not help and it cannot be saved. Every woman before an oophorectomy asks the doctor a natural question: “Is it possible to get pregnant with one ovary?” The answer is quite ambiguous. In general, you can get pregnant with one ovary only if there are no other concomitant diseases of the reproductive system.
Yes, you can get pregnant and give birth even with one ovary.
What are the chances of getting pregnant with one ovary?
You can get pregnant with one ovary. It’s not for nothing that a woman’s body has two ovaries. For example, if an oophorectomy was performed on the right, then the reproductive function passes to the opposite ovary. In a normal situation, when both ovaries are working normally, these paired sex glands work alternately. For example, in the first menstrual cycle the left ovary works, in the next cycle the right one. Everything is ingenious and simple - while one ovary is working, the other is resting.
Sometimes it happens that ovulation occurs in two ovaries at once, on the left and on the right at the same time. In medicine, this process is called double ovulation. When one ovary is missing, the other begins to work each cycle, producing the hormones necessary for conception and releasing the egg for fertilization.
There is one important thing, the remaining ovary must be healthy, then pregnancy even with one ovary is possible.
In what cases is an ovary removed?
Ovariectomy is not a determining factor when planning pregnancy, because the likelihood of fertilization with a healthy second ovary is almost not reduced.
When to remove an ovary:
- Physical damage.
- Ectopic pregnancy.
- Malignant tumor.
- Benign growth of neoplasms.
- Apoplexy (bleeding after ovarian rupture).
Most often, oophorectomy is performed using laparoscopy. The operation is performed using several punctures in the abdominal cavity. Minimal intervention allows a woman to recover faster.
The most common complications of oophorectomy
Often, the consequences of removing an ovary reduce the ability to become pregnant. This is due to the fact that most ovary removal occurs urgently, for example, in case of apoplexy, rupture of a cyst or ectopic pregnancy. The consequence of such operations is often the appearance of adhesions, which, when they grow, prevent conception from occurring. Adhesions prevent the egg from moving. Another complication after surgery may be a hormonal disorder, which also does not contribute to normal conception.
To become pregnant with one ovary, the patient needs to be well prepared. If an inflammatory process occurs in the remaining ovary or the gonad is depleted, the woman needs to undergo treatment and recovery and then plan a pregnancy. With such problems with the second ovary, it is unlikely that you will be able to get pregnant the first time. Therefore, if a woman with one ovary plans to get pregnant, she should be mentally prepared for difficulties on the path to conception.
Factors preventing conception
After an oophorectomy, the load on the one remaining ovary increases. Many show signs of premature exhaustion. Many patients over 35 years old experience menstrual irregularities, frequent anovulation and other problems caused by a decrease in egg reserves.
But these are not the only reasons that interfere with pregnancy. Problems with conception occur in the following cases:
- formation of adhesions after surgery,
- inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system,
- endometriosis,
- history of ectopic pregnancies,
- hormonal disorders.
If a woman fails to become pregnant within a year, the doctor may recommend checking the functioning of the thyroid gland, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, and adrenal glands. Often the absence of pregnancy is due to hormonal imbalance.
How to increase your chances of conceiving with one ovary
With one ovary, the chances of conception are determined solely individually for each woman. Decisive factors in assessing the ability to successfully conceive are: age, reasons for removing the ovary, existing diseases and how regularly the menstrual cycle occurs. These indicators form the overall picture for the doctor, who determines the possibility of getting pregnant with one ovary.
In order to increase the chances of successful conception, first, you need to contact a gynecologist. The doctor will definitely prescribe an examination. It is important to determine whether a woman is able to become pregnant now or whether treatment and preparation is necessary. Very often, during such an examination, it is discovered that a woman has inflammatory processes and various diseases of the cervix. For conception to occur without treatment of such pathologies, it is impossible.
It is important for the doctor to prepare the patient for conception and subsequent bearing of a child.
Folliculometry
Another important aspect that increases the chances of getting pregnant with one tube is folliculometry. With folliculometry, a woman independently measures her basal temperature daily and applies pregnancy tests. With this approach, you can determine with accuracy down to the day when ovulation began, which means that the chance of getting pregnant will be much higher. Folliculometry is used not only in situations where a woman has only one tube left. Doctors recommend folliculometry for all women experiencing problems conceiving.
Ovariectomy and tubectomy
Normally, the dominant follicle opens and releases the egg. Then it begins to move along the fallopian tube. But before entering the fallopian tube, the egg, after leaving the follicle, enters the abdominal cavity. It is “driven” into the tube by fimbriae, tentacle-like processes located at the beginning of the fallopian tube. Typically, the meeting of the female gamete and sperm occurs in the fallopian tube. Afterwards, the already fertilized egg enters the uterus, where it attaches to the wall and begins its development into a full-fledged fetus.
You can get pregnant even if you have only one fallopian tube and one ovary. Moreover, they can be on opposite sides of each other. Doctors assure that after tubectomy and oophorectomy on the left or right, you can get pregnant. Experts say that for successful conception it does not matter on which side the sex gland is located.
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If there are no two fallopian tubes, this does not mean that you will not be able to get pregnant. Nowadays, IVF allows you to get pregnant even if there are no fallopian tubes at all. Yes, it is impossible to get pregnant naturally without tubes, so in such a situation only IVF will help. If a woman has no other diseases that prevent conception and at least one ovary is capable of producing eggs, then IVF allows a high chance of getting pregnant. Moreover, with IVF with one ovary, age is not of fundamental importance; in vitro fertilization in such a situation can be done even after 35-40 years.
Right way of life
Any doctor will tell you that proper nutrition and an active lifestyle are the key to good health.
And these are not just words, this approach really makes a person healthier and happier. Constant advice to all women who want to get pregnant, which can be heard from any doctor, is the right way of life. Everyone, without exception, should eat right and exercise regularly. This is especially true for those who have problems conceiving. When preparing for a pregnancy with one ovary, the importance of proper nutrition and an active lifestyle increases manifold.
It is important to avoid stress and lack of sleep. It is necessary to give up all bad habits. Reproductive function decreases in any person who is in unfavorable conditions for the body.
Fertility concept
The ability of a sexually mature organism to reproduce offspring capable of survival is called fertility. It will be reduced exactly by half if one appendage is removed from the body.
It is strongly recommended not to delay planning a pregnancy after surgery. The fact is that the loss of fertility in patients with one appendage occurs somewhat faster than in those with two ovaries. This happens due to the increased load on it and premature depletion of follicle reserves.
What to do if one ovary is not working
How to get pregnant if one ovary is not working? This question concerns not only women who have undergone oophorectomy. One ovary may stop working if an inflammatory process occurs, cyst formation, adhesions, or as a result of hormonal abnormalities. Adhesions are often the result of surgery. Often, surgical treatment of a cyst can lead to such sad complications.
Suspecting that not everything is in order is quite simple. If pregnancy does not occur for a long time, you should consult a gynecologist and get a diagnosis.
Often during the examination it turns out that the ovary has decreased in size and no longer produces a dominant follicle.
An additional blood test often shows that the ovulatory reserve is significantly reduced. But even such a disappointing diagnosis should not put an end to trying to get pregnant. Do not forget that pregnancy is possible even if one ovary is not working, but the second is working normally. It is important to check the fallopian tubes for patency. It is also necessary to regularly monitor the onset of ovulation and its peak. Many doctors recommend not to be strictly attached to certain dates in the female calendar of the menstrual cycle and to have a very active sex life regularly.
Assessment of the reproductive system after oophorectomy
Of course, it is possible to get pregnant with one ovary, however, before you start conceiving, it is worth assessing the safety of the reproductive system in the postoperative period. If there are any complications or concomitant diseases, you will have to first undergo treatment aimed at eliminating obstacles to pregnancy. To determine the possibility of conceiving a baby with one ovary, it is worth making sure that the second ovary has retained its ability to ovulate. For a patient with this diagnosis, it is enough to wait for ovulation and actively begin conceiving. For pregnancy to occur, the egg must go through all stages without problems, from release and movement through the fallopian tubes, to meeting the sperm and attaching to the walls of the uterus. If a hormonal imbalance occurs at at least one of the stages, you will not be able to get pregnant.
Of course, it is impossible to conceive a child without ovulation. To assess your chances of getting pregnant with one ovary, it is recommended to determine whether ovulation occurs in the remaining ovary. To do this, it is recommended to track the process of egg maturation using folliculometry, which is performed using ultrasound diagnostics on certain days of the cycle. It is possible to verify the presence of ovulation at home. To do this, you need to measure your basal temperature daily and do ovulation tests.
General information
Resection is carried out using several methods:
- Laparoscopy. This is a modern and safe technique, the essence of which boils down to the following. Several punctures are made in the woman's abdomen using special equipment. Devices are inserted into the holes: one to carry out excision of part of the affected organ, the other with a special sensor that transmits all actions to the monitor. Thus, laparoscopy allows you to avoid an aesthetically unattractive scar on a woman’s abdomen, the recovery period is much faster, and the negative consequences that are usually observed with standard abdominal surgery can be minimized.
- Laparotomy. Abdominal surgery, in which a longitudinal incision is made in the abdomen (at least 10 cm), and through this incision part of the ovary is removed. Abdominal surgery is more traumatic and dangerous than laparoscopy, not to mention the fact that it leaves a scar on the abdomen, which can only be removed later with a laser (and not always).
Whatever the method of surgical intervention, its goal is to eliminate the pathology that prevents pregnancy. The doctor tries to carry out the procedure in such a way as to preserve as much ovarian tissue as possible so that the ovary subsequently functions normally. Bleeding vessels are not sutured after the incision; they are cauterized with a special device (coagulation method).
