# Pregnancy without fallopian tubes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 31, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480 "2017-07-31T04:40:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/1 "2017-07-31T04:40:23Z")

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[Relevant article](http://www.sltrib.com/news/5564026-155/transgender-patient-files-malpractice-suit-against), this is a biological GQ question and not a debate about this particular event.

“Luikenaar’s surgical plan was to include a hysterectomy, the removal of both fallopian tubes and the excision of one ovary, court papers say. Shaw wanted the second ovary retained so natural hormones would still be produced and so Shaw might have a biological child one day.”

So how does that work? Surgically extract an egg then use a surrogate? And where does an egg go if it doesn’t have a means to travel to the uterus?

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**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/2 "2017-07-31T04:47:16Z")

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What uterus after the hysterectomy?

Surrogate would seem to be the only option at that point.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/3 "2017-07-31T06:40:06Z")

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Yeah, apparently they used “natural” to mean “using her ova”. It would have to be a test tube baby grown in a surrogate, which AFAICT isn’t what one usually means by “natural”.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/4 "2017-07-31T07:15:20Z")

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The word ‘natural’ only appears in the article in the context of hormones, which seems correct. The term ‘biological child’ is used - not implying natural fertilisation or gestation, but rather, genetic heritage.

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**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/5 "2017-07-31T07:41:32Z")

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> [@Folly](#):
>
> What uterus after the hysterectomy?
> 
> Surrogate would seem to be the only option at that point.

Yes, but again not specifically related to the article: if the ovary is active, but the egg has nowhere to go to implant/be expelled through menstruation, what would happen? Does the (tiny) mass just keep building up inside the body? Does it matter?

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-without-fallopian-tubes/792480/6 "2017-07-31T10:13:28Z")

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It would leave the ovary, have nowhere much to go, die and be reabsorbed in the same way that millions of other cells get reabsorbed.