Tubal Ligation

Summary

Tubal ligation (getting your “tubes tied”) is a type of surgery. It prevents a woman from getting pregnant. It is a permanent form of birth control, and is effective right away.

The surgery cuts, ties, or seals the fallopian tubes. This blocks the path between the ovaries and the uterus. The sperm cannot reach the egg to fertilize it, and the egg cannot reach the uterus. You get the surgery in a hospital or outpatient surgical center. It usually takes about 30 minutes. Almost all women go home the same day. They can return to most normal activities within a few days.

Tubal ligation can sometimes be reversed. The reversal is major surgery, and does not always work.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Reproductive Sterilization National Institutes of Health
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Sterilization, Tubal National Institutes of Health

Find an Expert

• Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Find an Ob-Gyn American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Teenagers

• Female Sterilization (Tubal Ligation) Boston Children’s Hospital

Specifics

• Hysteroscopy National Library of Medicine
• Laparoscopy National Library of Medicine

Patient Handouts

• Hysteroscopy Medical Encyclopedia
• Tubal ligation Medical Encyclopedia
• Tubal ligation – discharge Medical Encyclopedia
• Tubal ligation reversal Medical Encyclopedia

Journal Articles

• Tubal Ligation

Start Here

• Sterilization by Laparoscopy American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Tubal Ligation Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Tubal Sterilization (Tubal Ligation) American Academy of Family Physicians

Encyclopedia

• Sterilization surgery – making a decision Medical Encyclopedia

Images

• Tubal ligation – Series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia