It's a sad fact these days that 1 in 3 marriages end in divorce. Often, when a couple has completed their family, they feel happy to undergo a vasectomy to prevent any more children being born. But there are more and more couples entering into new marriages, who understandably want a child with their new partner and they are left with the problem of one partner or both being infertile due to sterilization.
I Want A Baby - What Can I Do?
There is a vasectomy reversal operation which is available at private clinics. Firstly you would need to book a consultation to ascertain whether you are suitable for the procedure. If this is the case, you would have a pre-operative examination to see where your vasectomy was done and determine the best course of repair. Your general health will also be checked (blood pressure, any history of heart disease, etc).
The Operation
The operation is usually done under a local anaesthetic injected into the area, together with a sedative and pain killer.
The portion of damaged vas (the tube which carries sperm from the testes to the base of the penis) is located and sectioned off. Then the fresh tube is tested by flushing saline through it to see if the tube is still working. The ends of the vas are then stitched together using extremely fine stitching. The procedure takes about 3 hours to complete and there will be two tiny scars, one on each side of the scrotum.
Post Surgery
You will be advised to rest for 4 or 5 days and should not work during this time. You should not do physically tiring activity such as contact sports for 2 or 3 weeks afterwards.
6 to 8 weeks later, a sperm test will be done to check for the presence of sperm, although it can take several months for fertility to return so this will usually be repeated about 8 months following the reversal.
Does It Work?
If your vasectomy was done less than 10 years ago, you have a very high chance of regaining your fertility (in one private clinic in the UK they have an 82-94% success rate for those men who had vasectomies within the last 1 to 10 years). After 20 years, the success rate drops substantially, but there have still been babies born to couples who were sterilized 20 or more years before.
How Much Does It Cost?
Reversal is fairly pricey and usually somewhere around £4,000 (US$7800), but this varies according to the clinic. Most prospective parents would agree this is a small price to pay for a baby.
