Any successful stories about pregnancy after laparotomy here?

Hi there! I just turned 32 and have had 3 pregnancies through IVF (2 kids + currently pregnant). My surgeries were when I was a teenager- emergency colectomy was laparoscopic and then j-pouch was done open.

Back in 2015/2016, we tried naturally for about 6 months before pursuing fertility services. My doctor was able to order a few tests to get a better understanding of what was going on physically. I believe it was an HSG that showed that my tubes were open, but pulled up and away from where they would normally lie (probably due to scar tissue). Then on ultrasound, we saw that my ovaries were also not in a "normal" position. My doctor said that it was possible that my ovaries and tubes were not close enough together for an egg to be able to get into the tube and be fertilized. (The only way to know would be to keep trying.) We decided not to wait and went straight to IVF. Luckily, since my issues were only with the positioning of my organs, the egg retrieval was very successful and we ended up with all the embryos we wanted in one try. Fast forward to this past fall, I ended up needing an ovary removed, which had to be done via laparotomy. My surgeon said that there were so many adhesions around my tubes and ovaries, she couldn't imagine I would've ever been able to conceive naturally. So, I'm glad we didn't keep trying!

All this to say, while I don't think I could have gotten pregnant without IVF, that doesn't mean that would be the case for you! It could be worth meeting with a fertility specialist to talk about your options and see what tests can be done to get a better sense of what's going on inside. Wishing you the best of luck, and I'm happy to answer any questions!

Thank you so much for sharing your story susbo!

In 2015/2016 who did the HSG to you? Was it a surgeon or your fertility doc?

And if you want to answer, I heard that with IVF there is a higher risk of cancer, how did you managed this with your mental health? Are you not afraid of that?

Again, thank you so much

The fertility doc performed all the diagnostic tests for me, including the HSG.

What type of cancer are you referring to? I'm not aware of IVF definitively increasing the risk of cancer for the general population. I would definitely raise this concern with your doctor if you choose to look into fertility services.

I'm at a heightened risk of breast and ovarian cancer, so my doctor put me on protocols that minimized my exposure to estrogen. But I guess with some of the drugs and ovarian stimulation, I could be more at risk. I figure, though, that pregnancy + breastfeeding both reduce your risk of those cancers by suppressing ovulation for 1 year+, so maybe it comes out even?! Totally get the mental health component though- I can get very anxious about cancer. I guess I try not to think about it too much, as well as stay on top of all of my recommended monitoring/screening.

Hi susbo,

well the cancer fear came from my brother who told me about a friend who got tube cancer after the IVF treatment. But I guess she was just a very rare case. Im so happy for you that could get pregnant with IVF!! How long did it took you from your first appointment with the fertility doc until your first pregnancy?

Today I went to my gyn. She found out that I got a leak of progesterone since days before my period starts I already have sort of very few bleeding. And she sends me now to laparoscopy for HSG and adhesion removal. Let's see when I get that appointment since in my region they cancel all elective operations.

I still hope that we can find more women here who got pregnant after laparotomy.

There should definitely be some more stories! I know lots of women on here have gone on to have babies.

For me, the time from when I first started undergoing fertility testing to my (frozen) embryo transfer was about 5 months. We did genetic testing on our embryos to increase our odds of success, so there were about 2 months between the egg retrieval and the transfer.

Good luck with your procedure! I hope you can schedule it soon!

Hi! Another success story for you!! My colon was initially removed laparoscopic but I immediately began to have internal bleeding in recovery, they rushed me back, cut me open wide and gave me lots of blood. Per my surgeon, the tissue around my colon was just so much sicker than imaging indicated so it did not cauterize properly.  So the initial surgery was planned, the emergency surgery for internal bleeding obviously was not and the colon removal most likely would have been emergent had I waited much longer. For stage 2 he did opt to go ahead and open me wide again because of the complications the first go round. I ended up having a blockage after step 2 and needing a central line to deliver the medication to clear the blockage.

I had my take down in the winter of 2017 and was cleared to try and get pregnant 6 weeks later. At that point, I was underweight so I was not ovulating properly. I worked on gaining weight and we decided to give clomid with a trigger shot a try. Two months of that very low dose of clomid was too much for me (shout out to all you ladies handling IVF like champs!!). We were both miserable so we decided it is what it is and we couldn't live our lives trying to conceive. A month or two later we got pregnant without assistance (summer 2018).

For background, I had two unassisted, easy pregnancies prior to my jpouch. I developed my autoimmune diseases shortly after the birth of my second son and had three miscarriages before jpouch surgery (last one chromosomal and unpreventable, first two probably due to my poor health with undiagnoed UC). 

Good luck and feel free to reach out if you have any questions- it really is strange how little you hear about pregnancy after pouch but per my surgeon it is totally possible and no more high risk than anyone else.