Contralateral tubal-ovarian apposition and fertility in hemiovariectomized primates

Here, we examined longitudinally (1) the incidence of pregnancy in hemiovariectomized macaques possessing only one ovary contralateral to a single fallopian tube, i.e., pregnancy after transabdominal ovum migration; (2) the pregnancy rate after surgically achieving contralateral apposition of the ovary and fallopian tube; and (3) the frequency of ovulatory menstrual cycles, patterns of menstruation, and steroid profiles in serum of intact versus hemiovariectomized monkeys to determine whether the ovarian cycle is altered by constraining recurrent follicular maturation and corpus luteum function to one ovary. Despite matings during 28 ovulatory menstrual cycles, none of the five primates possessing only one ovary contralateral to a single fallopian tube became pregnant. In contrast, following contralateral tubal-ovarian apposition, three of these five monkeys conceived after only nine ovulatory menstrual cycles. Hemiovariectomy of monkeys did not compromise the regularity of menstrual cycles or frequency of ovulation, compared with intact control females over the 13-month interval of study (P greater than 0.01). Thus, tubal-ovarian apposition is required in these primates for efficient ovum pickup and fertilization and deserves further clinical scrutiny for women having one functional ovary and one healthy fallopian tube, albeit contralateral.