Monday, February 6th, 2006...8:36 pm
15 years between vasectomy and vasectomy reversal
It’s been approximately 15 years since my vasectomy, which dramatically reduces the chances of a successful vasectomy reversal . This means that I have at best around a 70% chance of patency (the return of sperm to the semen) and, all other things being equal, a 40 to 60% chance of my wife becoming pregnant. Some doctors don’t quote rates based on age however, but rather on the basis of whether a vasovasostomy or vasoepididymostomy is performed. I’ve seen vasectomy reversal success rates quoted for a vaso-vasostomy that indicate a patency rate of 90% and pregnancy rate of 40–75%. These figures drop to 60% patency and 20–30% pregnancy for those of us undergoing a vaso-epididymostomy. Unfortunately, the 15 year interval since my vasectomy makes it more likely that I will have to undergo a vasoepididymostomy. This is because after five years, there is a greater chance that there will have been a blowout, an obstruction in the epididymis.
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7 Comments
April 23rd, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Hey Rich. Cool blog….I followed the link you posted on the ICVR message board. My hubby’s vasectomy is also 15 years out….we are going for the reversal surgery in June. I’m excited but worried at the same time, as the vas is so far out. I hope we can blessed with a baby of our own one day soon.
Good luck to you too!
April 23rd, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Thanks. We’ve learned not to expect overnight results. I think the average length of time from VR to pregnancy is a year or so. Hmm, I’ll have to research that and post on it. Good luck with the surgery. Mine was painless; I hope your husband’s is as well (and successful of course!).
May 4th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
You’ve given me hope again. Thank you. My husband’s vasectomy was also 15 years old and he had the reversal procedure done June 2005. He had a semen analysis this week (May 2006) and we didn’t quite understand the results as the nurse was explaining it quickly over the phone. Something was at 100 million and something else was 5% that should be 40-60%. I guess what it boiled down to was low sperm count/motility. I figured we don’t have a chance and disappointingly decided that I just had to accept fate. I’m never going to be a mommy. However, I came across your blog and saw that a pregnancy can take between 12 to 24 months to occur. So, maybe there’s still hope for us! Good Luck to you too!
May 4th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Wolfie -
I definately have not given up hope even though Rich’s sperm count is low right now. The doctor also suggested to us that we might want to freeze samples of his sperm to build up enough to try intrautarine insemination. Have you considered that possibility as a route to mommyhood?
Good luck!
November 1st, 2007 at 8:17 pm
It was really good to hear your story. I am 26 years old and my husband is 36. He had a vasectomy about 8 years ago in his previous marriage, (after 2 children). Well to make a long story short, he got divorced, we got married, and now we want a baby together. It seems so expensive to not know if it will work for sure or not. Thanks for your story. It is a real encouragement for us.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
My husband of seven months, is recovering in the next room, from his reversal.(only hours old!) We met 7 years ago, four months after he had seperated from his wife of 16 years…
I’m 38 and a bit and he is 57 and a bit. He has 4 children, whom have been raised jointly by us and their Mom. I really wanted at least one of my own so God love him we are going to try!!!!!
Thanks for your story!
March 7th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Hello everyone, its nice to hear that I am not the only on ein this boat. My husband had a reversal 5 days ago. He had his initial vasectomy 10-11 yrs ago. I would really like to have a child with him. He is 23 yrs older than I and already had children but I have never. Does anyone have any encouraging words? Has it worked for anyone? I sure hope so!!
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