Blocked Fallopian Tubes

The fallopian tubes are the passage through which an egg moves from the ovaries to the uterus. The fallopian tubes are sensitive to scarring and can be blocked as a result of infection, endometriosis, or scar tissue from previous surgery. This can make the fallopian tube unable to transport an egg into the uterus or sperm from the uterus to the egg.

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Sexually transmitted diseases can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Scarring from PID can block the fallopian tubes or damage them so they can't pick up an egg from the ovary. Since PID has no symptoms in up to 50 percent of cases, many women will not know that they have had this infection.

Endometriosis, in which the tissue that lines the uterus grows in other parts of the belly cavity, can also block the fallopian tubes.

In some cases, a blockage can cause a hydrosalpinx, a fallopian tube filled with fluid. That fluid can leak out of the tube into the uterine cavity, which may make the uterus inhospitable to an embryo. Doctors don't yet know exactly how the fluid affects fertility, but removing the fallopian tube sometimes helps.