Hi June_21,
I’m so sorry that you have suffered an ectopic pregnancy and loss. The experience and trauma can leave us with many feelings and questions. I will do my best to help.
When a person has only one fallopian tube they are still able to get pregnant from an egg at the opposite ovary as an egg from one ovary can travel down the tube on the other side. Conservative estimates suggest that an egg produced on the tubeless side manages to descend the remaining tube around 15 to 20% of the time. This means that rather than your fertility being halved it has been affected by around 30% or, looking at it another way, it means we have around a 70% opportunity of conception with each menstrual (period) cycle.
We naturally assume that we will ovulate from alternative ovaries each month (left ovary, right ovary, left, right etc.) This is not true and varies from woman to woman. Some women will ovulate from the same side each month with an occasional ovulation from the other side, while others will ovulate randomly from side to side.
Both ovaries compete each month to produce an egg and usually the one that is ‘pulling ahead in the race’ continues while the other one gives up (but not always – sometimes women will ovulate from both ovaries in one cycle or twice from one ovary but these are rare events that explain how we get non-identical twins naturally). It depends on which ovary contains the egg that is at the right stage of development at the point in time where the woman is due to ovulate and is nothing to do with a set pattern.
The side we ovulate from does not strictly matter as an egg from one ovary can travel down the tube on the other side.
In regards to the sex of the child, this is not determined by the side the egg is released from, but from the chromosome which fertilised the egg (X or Y) which comes from the sperm.
Please know we are here for any questions and for any support you need.
With good wishes,
Michele
The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
Registered Charity Number: 1071811
Ectopic pregnancy patient information suite: Highly Commended in the 2019 BMA Patient Information Awards
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