Be­co­ming a fa­ther after a vasec­tomy 

Vasec­tomy re­fers to the cut­ting of the vas de­fe­rens in men. It is con­sidered a re­liable me­thod of con­tracep­tion, has re­la­tively few com­pli­ca­tions and in­volves a much lower sur­gical risk com­pared to the ste­ri­liza­tion in women. Vasec­tomy should not be con­fused with cas­tra­tion, in which the testicles are re­moved, dra­sti­cally al­te­ring the hor­monal ba­lance.

Ste­ri­liza­tion or vasec­tomy does not in­ter­fere with hor­monal ba­lance: sperm pro­duc­tion con­ti­nues. By cut­ting the vas de­fe­rens, there are me­rely no more sperm in the eja­cu­late — sperm trans­port is per­ma­nently in­ter­rupted. After a vasec­tomy, the partner feels just as much plea­sure du­ring sex as be­fore and the pro­ce­dure also has no di­rect in­fluence on erec­tion and or­gasm.

De­pen­ding on the prac­tice, you should ex­pect to pay around 500 euros (in­clu­ding follow-up ex­ami­na­tions). The he­alth insu­rance com­pa­nies do not cover the costs.

Vasec­tomy is re­com­mended for men who do not wish to have children or who have com­pleted their fa­mily plan­ning. But what if after a vasec­tomy there is still a de­sire to have children? This is the case for about 30% of ste­ri­lized men. And still about 6–10% of men who have had a vasec­tomy de­cide to have it re­versed.

Is it pos­sible to re­verse a vasec­tomy?

Yes, it is pos­sible. A re­peat sur­gery, called a va­so­va­sostomy, re­con­nects the se­vered vas de­fe­rens. Here, a spe­cial sur­gical mi­cro­scope al­lows the sur­geon to en­large the tiny vas de­fe­rens up to 20 times in order to re­con­nect their ends. After all, 90% of the ope­ra­tions are crowned with suc­cess and the ability to pro­create is res­tored.

There is dis­agree­ment as to whe­ther the time factor plays a major role or not. Many sources in the In­ternet re­port that the longer the pe­riod bet­ween vasec­tomy and re­fer­ti­liza­tion, the lower the pro­ba­bi­lity of pregnancy. For ex­ample, the German Fe­deral Center for He­alth Edu­ca­tion (BZgA) states on its web­site Familienplanung.de that only half of ste­ri­lized men will fa­ther a child again if the re­fer­ti­liza­tion took place wi­thin three years of the vasec­tomy. If the pro­ce­dure took place even longer ago, the chances de­te­rio­rate fur­ther. Ho­wever, there are also other, more hop­eful pro­gnoses, which state that the con­nec­tion bet­ween time and chances of suc­cess simply does not exist. Ra­ther, they say, it’s cru­cial that “the dia­gno­stic and part­ner­ship pa­ra­me­ters are right.”

What are the costs for a re­fer­ti­liza­tion / va­so­va­sostomy?

At least 2000 euros must be ex­pected and thei are not co­vered by the he­alth insu­rance.

Be­co­ming a fa­ther th­rough as­sisted re­pro­duc­tion

If a re­fer­ti­liza­tion is not pos­sible or if it is not to be re­versed de­spite the de­sire to have children, cou­ples can con­sider an­o­ther op­tion after vasec­tomy: Testi­cular sperm ex­tra­c­tion (TESE). Here, tissue samples are taken from the testicles via a small pro­ce­dure and ex­amined for sperm that are ca­pable of fer­ti­liza­tion. If these are found, the samples can be frozen and used for fer­ti­lity tre­at­ment (ICSI). TESE re­quires a tho­rough preli­mi­nary ex­ami­na­tion in­clu­ding a sper­mio­gram. It costs around 2500 to 3000 euros, which is also due pro­por­tio­na­tely if no fer­ti­lizable sperm are found. Ho­wever, he­alth insu­rance com­pa­nies usually con­tri­bute to the costs of sur­gical pro­ce­dures to ob­tain sperm if cer­tain con­di­tions are met.

At Fer­tilly, we have made it our mis­sion to ac­com­pany cou­ples (ho­mo­se­xual and he­te­ro­se­xual) and sin­gles on the way to ful­fil­ling their child wish. In doing so, it is im­portant to us to create trans­pa­rency in the area of fer­ti­lity ser­vices, to pro­vide in­for­ma­tion and know­ledge on the to­pics of pregnancy and fer­ti­lity and to help you to find the most sui­table Fer­ti­lity Center. Th­rough co­ope­ra­tion with first-class Fer­ti­lity Cen­tres and cli­nics in Eu­rope, en­qui­ries about Fer­tilly are given pre­fe­ren­tial tre­at­ment. This means that our pa­ti­ents avoid the usually long wai­ting times and get ap­point­ments more quickly.

If you would like more in­for­ma­tion about Fer­ti­lity Cen­ters, suc­cess rates and prices, please contact us using this ques­ti­on­n­aire. We will ad­vise you free of charge and wi­t­hout any ob­li­ga­tion.