I always chuckle to myself when the inevitable "not all break-ups lead to reconciliations" and "I went back to an ex - what a waste of time" type comments pop up in a thread designed to be optimistic.
As someone pointed out, there are a wealth of threads which demonstrate those points of view specifically. I think it's great to have one which shows they DO happen.
Also, the old, unsubstantiated statistic gets trotted out about how 'rare' reconciliations are. Citing survey results would be really helpful, I think.
I've no proof either way. What I would say, however, is that a reconciliation appears more likely to be effective (from the anecdotal evidence) IF a significant period of NC has been adhered to - a year or more. I would hazard a guess that the longer the period of NC, the more successful the reconciliation.
I'm open to challenges on that view