Losing a fallopian tube, whether from surgery or a medical emergency, does not end your ability to get pregnant or significantly change how your body functions day to day. You still ovulate, still get your period, and can still conceive naturally in most cases. The remaining tube can do the work of two, though your chances of conceiving each cycle do decrease somewhat.
Why a Fallopian Tube Gets Removed
The most common reasons for losing a tube include ectopic pregnancy (where a fertilized egg implants inside the tube instead of the uterus), a condition called hydrosalpinx (where the tube fills with fluid and becomes blocked or damaged), and ovarian torsion that involves the tube. Some people also have a tube removed during surgery for endometriosis, pelvic infections, or certain cancers. In rarer cases, a tube is removed electively to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, since some ovarian cancers appear to originate in the fallopian tubes.
When only one tube is removed, the procedure is called a unilateral salpingectomy. It’s almost always done laparoscopically, through a few small incisions in the abdomen.
How Your Body Works With One Tube
Your fallopian tubes don’t produce hormones. Your ovaries handle that job. So removing one tube doesn’t trigger menopause, doesn’t change your hormone levels in a meaningful way, and doesn’t alter your menstrual cycle. You’ll still get your period on the same schedule, with the same flow you had before.
Both ovaries continue to release eggs as usual, typically alternating sides each month (though not in a perfectly predictable pattern). Here’s where things get interesting: you don’t need the tube on the same side as the ovary that released the egg. When an egg is released, it doesn’t travel through a sealed tunnel. Instead, it’s expelled along with fluid from the follicle into the open space behind the uterus, called the cul-de-sac. The fringed ends of the fallopian tubes hang into this space, and the egg drifts by fluid motion toward whichever tube is there. Think of a speck of dust floating in a small puddle of water. This means your remaining tube can pick up eggs from either ovary, not just the one on its side.
Fertility With One Fallopian Tube
You can absolutely get pregnant with a single fallopian tube. Research suggests the decrease in natural conception rates ranges between 15 and 45 percent compared to someone with two healthy tubes. That’s a wide range because it depends heavily on individual factors: your age, the health of the remaining tube, your partner’s sperm quality, and whether you have other fertility issues like endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome.
If your remaining tube is healthy and open, many people conceive without any medical assistance. The timeline may simply take longer. If you’ve been trying for six months to a year without success (depending on your age), a fertility specialist can evaluate whether the remaining tube is functioning well and discuss options like IVF, which bypasses the tubes entirely by combining egg and sperm in a lab.
One concern worth knowing about: if you lost your tube due to an ectopic pregnancy, you do carry a small risk of ectopic pregnancy in the remaining tube. Studies of IVF patients who had a prior ectopic treated with tube removal found a recurrence rate of about 3.6 percent. That’s low, but it means early monitoring in future pregnancies is important.
What Recovery Looks Like
If your tube was removed laparoscopically, recovery is relatively quick. Most people take 2 to 7 days off work, depending on how physically demanding their job is. Open surgery, which is less common, typically requires 1 to 2 weeks off. In both cases, you should avoid lifting anything heavy for at least a week after the procedure.
You can expect some abdominal soreness, bloating, and fatigue in the first few days. Shoulder pain is also common after laparoscopic surgery because gas used to inflate the abdomen during the procedure can irritate the diaphragm. This usually resolves within a day or two. Most people feel back to normal within two to three weeks, though everyone heals at a different pace.
Long-Term Effects to Expect
For most people, life with one fallopian tube looks and feels exactly like life with two. Your periods don’t change. Your hormones stay the same. You won’t notice any physical difference once you’ve healed from surgery. There’s no ongoing medical management required, and no supplements or lifestyle changes needed to compensate for the missing tube.
The only lasting consideration is reproductive. If you’re planning a future pregnancy, it helps to know the status of your remaining tube. A simple imaging test can confirm whether it’s open and healthy. If the remaining tube has damage from infection, endometriosis, or scar tissue, IVF remains a reliable path to pregnancy because it doesn’t require functioning tubes at all. Many people who’ve lost both tubes go on to have successful pregnancies through IVF.