from what i have been told its hard to reverse. i don’t know if its reliable, my son in law had one and so far its worked.

A vasectomy is considered permanent, so if you aren’t 100% sure you want it, then don’t have it done!

Reversals apparently have about an 80% success rate if done within 5 years of having the vasectomy. The longer you wait, however, the lower the chances of success are.

Don’t do it. I had a vasectomy and it trashed my sex life. I have been impotent for many years and the medics won’t help you, they are in denial about the many side effects of vasectomy. When I had it done I was told there were no side effects. What a pack of lies !! Good luck, do a LOT of research then make your mind up.

Vasectomy reversal is expensive. It would cost between $2000 to $15,000 depending on whether it is done under general or local and what doctor is doing the reversal. Reliability? Most reversals do work to some extent. It depends on how long a person has the vasectomy for. The longer a guy has a V, the less likely it can be successfully reversed. That’s because the testicles of vasectomized males retain the sperm in them…they become congested. The male body keeps producing sperm and it has no place to go after a vasectomy so the male’s body must reabsorb this sperm. 55,000 sperm per minute; millions per day. The body can’t keep up and it leads to sperm granulomas in men with open vasectomies and blow-outs in closed vasectomies. This leads to antisperm antibodies, which can sometimes affect the fertility of a male after a reversal since antibodies are for life…just like getting an immunization lasts for life-long immunity most of the time. All these factors reduce that chances of regaining fertility after a reversal. My husband had a reversal within the first year of the vasectomy. It worked and we now have a reversal son. My dh remains fertile to this day almost four years post reversal. It cost us $7000, was done under general, and took about 4 wks to heal completely, although most discomfort was gone after 5 days. We don’t regret the reversal; we regret ever having a vasectomy. The Vasectomy was a total waste of time, money, and pain. I would advise you use a different form of bc. Vasectomies can lead to PVPS and you don’t want that. The first site I give a link to explains what can result from a vasectomy. The second site I provide gives rates of successful reversal.

The non-reversibility of vasectomy is only one consideration. You are right that reversal is uncertain (perhaps 50% of couples conceive in the year post-reversal), but it is also painful (6 week recovery) and expensive ($6000 to $12000), and not covered by insurance.

The more important issue to consider regarding vasectomy is the risk of chronic testicular pain or changes in sexual function, neither of which are a focus of the consent process.

Despite the common view that vasectomy is completely safe and has no long-term side effects, several post-vasectomy surveys have confirmed that some men have persistent pain after vasectomy. These contemporary studies are published in peer reviewed medical journals and document this problem in a significant percentage of vasectomized men. While most men have trivial short-term pain, some men have pain that lasts a few months, and up to 15% of men still complain of testicular or other scrotal pain seven months after their vasectomy. (Leslie et al 2007) After one year, the incidence may decrease, but this has not been proven, and a study of two groups of men one year post-vasectomy and ten years post-vasectomy showed no difference in incidence. (Manikandan et al.)

There are six post-vasectomy survey studies that document the incidence of persistent pain. Severe pain, affects on sexual function, or quality of life are reported in 2 to 6% of vasectomized men in these studies. Summaries are available below and you can access the abstract by clicking the direct links:

1) McMahon et al – 253 surveys sent, 172 responded, and 33% complained of chronic testicular pain. The time interval from vasectomy averaged 4 years and 5% of the men complained of pain during sex. One in sixty respondents regretted having the vasectomy due to chronic pain.

2) Choe/Kirkemo – 470 surveys sent, 182 responded, and 19% complained of pain. The time interval from vasectomy averaged 5 years and 2% of the men complained of pain that affected quality of life. Nine percent of the men were dissatisfied with their vasectomy.

3) Morris et al – 198 surveys sent, 101 responded, and 52% complained of some level of pain. The time interval from vasectomy averaged 3 to 4 years and 6% of men complained of pain severe enough to seek treatment.

4) Ahmed et al – 560 surveys sent, 396 responded, and 5% of men had pain that lasted longer than three months. For some of these men, the pain was severe enough to offer microsurgical denervation of the spermatic cord to treat the pain.

5) Manikandan et al – Surveyed two groups, A. Ten years after vasectomy and B. One year after vasectomy. In group A 460 surveys were sent, 182 responded and 14% had chronic pain. Four percent of the men rated their pain as greater than five on a scale of one to ten (VAS>5). In group 460 surveys were sent, 220 responded and 16% of men complained of pain. Six percent of these men rated the pain as greater than five on a scale of ten.

6) Leslie et al – 625 patients were approached, and 593 completed the preop survey, while 488 completed a postop survey seven months later and 15% of men reported chronic pain. Four percent of these men reported pain with sex and fourteen percent rated their pain as greater than five on a scale of ten (VAS>5).

Some methodologic flaws could have affected these results which may also be subject to self-selection bias and response bias, however, the numbers are still concerning. If one assumes that ALL of the men who did not return the surveys had NO pain, the pooled incidence of persistent pain from the studies cited above would still be 289/3026 or about 10%.

This seems more important to me than reversibility.