# A question about tubal ligation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705 "2017-03-08T17:45:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/1 "2017-03-08T17:45:20Z")
My daughter got a tubal ligation with her last C-section birth about a month ago. A section of each Fallopian tube was removed (and given to her, like replacement parts at the car shop). She now cannot have more children because her eggs cannot get to the uterus. This, of course, was the desired effect. The question: None of this affects the ovaries. I presume they continue to churn out ova at their usual rate. How come women with tubal ligations don’t have a problem with the eggs piling up in the Fallopian tube and causing some sort of burst or other problem? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/2 "2017-03-08T17:46:48Z")
I’m no doctor, but my understanding is that these “eggs” are only one cell each, and are simply absorbed into the body. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/3 "2017-03-08T17:48:49Z")
As I understand it the unfertilized eggs are absorbed by the body, so they don’t pile up anywhere. A woman usually only produces 12 viable eggs a year, 6 from each ovary, so it’s not like there are hundreds of eggs that need to be dealt with. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/4 "2017-03-08T18:12:09Z")
A human egg cell is around 1/10th of a millimeter across, or something like a million eggs in a 1 cm cube. It takes the average woman somewhere around 83 thousand years to release a million eggs. It isn’t like that candy factory scene from _I Love Lucy_ down there. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/5 "2017-03-10T22:50:54Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > The question: None of this affects the ovaries. I presume they continue to churn out ova at their usual rate. Humans are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/6 "2017-03-10T22:59:27Z")
I guess it’s much the same after a vasectomy - all those sperms swimming around with nowhere to go. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/7 "2017-03-10T23:01:03Z")
You’re probably thinking about the emergency that happens when a fertilized egg implants in the Fallopian tube, and starts to develop. That quickly becomes larger than one cell, and that’s why it’s a problem. Also, FWIW, sometimes fertilized eggs die in the Fallopian tube, and then there isn’t a problem. It’s only when they keep growing that it’s a problem. And yes, it’s true that women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, but a mature one released in the Fallopian tube is a little larger than an immature one. We’re talking microscopic either way, though. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/8 "2017-03-10T23:38:17Z")
It’s not like they have shells or anything. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/9 "2017-03-10T23:43:52Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I guess it’s much the same after a vasectomy - all those sperms swimming around with nowhere to go. That’s my understanding as well - the sperm have no natural exit after a vasectomy, and are just absorbed into the bloodstream. I am not entirely sure of the mechanism for this, tho. But, the body produces many time more of those swimmers compared to eggs, and it’s not like they are piling-up somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-tubal-ligation/781705/10 "2017-03-11T22:57:09Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > She now cannot have more children because her eggs cannot get to the uterus. She cannot have more children _accidentally_. Note that having children via IVF remains possible.