If He Reverses His Vasectomy, Will I Get Pregnant Soon?Posting Date: 12/28/1999 Original Broadcast Date: October 11, 1999 May: I want to have a baby, so, I've got some questions about vasectomy reversal for my husband. I've heard the reversals can take up to a year to work, and that they sometimes don't work at all. If he has the surgery, will he start producing sperm right away, or will it take a long time for me to get pregnant? Dr. Dean: Under regular, unaltered circumstances, a young and healthy female just doing what comes naturally with her man, takes about six months to become pregnant. So, take that into consideration when you're waiting on post- vasectomy conception. In a post-vasectomy man, sperm production may return right away, but if the vasectomy happened many years before, the testicles may have turned down the action and be slow to kick in. His sperm count can be measured right after the procedure to give you some information. If you both check out A-OK physically, you can expect a better than 50 percent pregnancy rate following a reversed vasectomy. It is a delicate and expensive surgery. You've got to have a doctor with really good hands and lots of experience. You know, the test tube baby - in vitro fertilization - technique has gotten so good and we have so much control over it that I recommend you consider it as an alternative. The doctors can fertilize your egg by using sperm that they extract from your husband's testicles - yes, post-vasectomy men have sperm in their testicles. This process - intracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI - is called "Ick-see" for short. During natural conception, out of hundreds of millions of sperm attempting to impregnate a woman, only one is the front-runner that achieves its aim. But with reproductive technology, we can take one sperm and with a very fine, needle-like device inject it right into the egg. I suppose vasectomy reversal, with its better than 50 percent success rate may be a lot less hassle than ICSI. I just want you to know that you have options.
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