Actually, fallopian tubes can be transplanted, at least in theory.

Before the era of IVF, tubal surgery was performed more commonly. Often a patient with a fallopian tube blockage would have the tube detached from the uterus and the blocked portion removed and then re-implanted into the uterus, sometimes at a different spot. There are also case reports of women who for various reasons were missing a tube on one side and missing an ovary on the other. Surgery was performed to remove the tube from one side and transplant it to the other side to give it closer proximity to the remaining ovary.

The above examples transplanted a tube to a different location within the same individual. The real difficulty comes in doing a transplant into a different individual.

There are three main challenges to overcome. First is the need to establish a blood supply so the "new" tube can be nourished. This is a problem that can be overcome by skilled vascular surgeons.

The second problem is the need for powerful medications that suppress the recipient's immune system to prevent "rejection" of the tube. In addition to having severe side effects and risks for the recipient, many of these medications are known to be teratogenic – that is, they can cause birth defects. Some studies in lower animals such as rats and rabbits, however, were able to produce apparently healthy offspring by lowering the dose of those medications. Pregnancies and healthy deliveries have been reported in female recipients of kidney, liver, heart, pancreas-liver, bone marrow and lung transplants. Due to the relatively small number, it is difficult to say whether the rate of birth defects is higher than in the general population.

Finally, there are reports of uterine rupture during pregnancy after tubal transplantation.

In light of the significant risks and the availability of alternative treatments (IVF) that are more effective in terms of pregnancy rates and less risky to the mother and her potential offspring, there is little incentive for doctors and scientists in the Western world to further research this area.

Last year, however, doctors in Saudi Arabia performed the first human uterus transplant, which produced two menstrual periods before it failed and had to be removed because of the development of a blood clot. Societies that do not see IVF as a viable alternative for religious or cultural reasons may be more inclined to accept those risks.

This is also an argument for stem cell research. If new tubes can be "grown" in the laboratory from a woman's own stem cells, they would lack the foreign "markers" that otherwise cause rejection. These tubes could be transplanted without the need for immunosuppressive medications and thus dramatically lower the risk of this procedure."

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