Is It Possible To Get Pregnant After Vasectomy?

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The process of childbirth is magical. Indeed most women desire to get pregnant at some point in their lives. However, it is important for us to realize that a woman might not want to get pregnant all the time.

In most cases, a family may have planned the number of children that they would want and after that the mother may not want to get pregnant anymore. Indeed, this type of planning is necessary to ensure the prosperity of the family. This will also help keep a tab on population explosion and work towards sustainable development.

Now one of the most common measures to have the pleasures of sex and yet ensure that you do not get pregnant is to go for the medical process of vasectomy. This article describes the process of vasectomy in detail and talks about the chances of getting pregnant after a vasectomy.

· What Happens During Vasectomy

As most of us are well aware, vasectomy is a birth control measure. Here, the vas deferens is severed and tied. Thus, unlike most of the birth control measures where the effect is on the woman's reproductive system, here it is the man's reproductive system that is made to do the adjustments.

In colloquial terms, this is known as 'having your tubes tied' because of the sheer nature of the procedure. This process ensures that the sperm does not reach the egg and thus, the question of getting pregnant does not arise.

The best thing about this process is that it does not really hurt much. In fact, there are no major significant effects of this on a person's overall health. The small recovery period after the procedure ensures that it does not make any changes to the person's lifestyle as well.

· Success Rate

With the central government being all the way more careful about birth control measures, vasectomy is being highly promoted in government hospitals and medical centres. In most places, this service is offered free of cost. Medical reports have confirmed that once a man undergoes this procedure, the chances of the couple having a child comes down to a mere 1%.

When a woman does get pregnant even after her partner has had a vasectomy is because the vasectomy itself was not a success. Thus, it is a good idea to check the success of the procedure in your case before being confident about the same.

These days there are a number of laboratory tests to confirm the same. The most common among them is that of Semen Specimen After Vasectomy (SSAV) and the result of this test is usually accurate.

· Failed Vasectomy

In spite of all the precautions on our part, it may so happen that a vasectomy fails. This is due to the sperm tubes reconnecting after the procedure. It is important to understand that the tissues in the human body are made in such a way that they try to tackle the effect of any damage by themselves.

In some rare cases, the male body sees the disconnection of the sperm tubes as a damage to itself and thus tries to undo the effect of this as much as possible. The reconnection may happen either on one side or on both the sides.

The process of reconnection is very rare and depends on a number of factors. Things like the health of the male on whom vasectomy was performed, how the surgeon who performed the operation made the blockage and the number of years that have elapsed since the procedure was performed all have a role to play here.

Understand that if a vasectomy fails (in medical terms this is known as recanalization failure), it is absolutely possible for the person's partner to get pregnant.

· Vasectomy Reversal

Other than the case of medical failure as discussed above, it may so happen that a couple wants to have a child months or years after the male has had his vasectomy. This is not entirely impossible. Today medical science has reached a point wherein it is possible to undo the effect of any surgical procedure.

Vasectomy is no different. Although this is traditionally seen as a permanent method of birth control, these days it is possible to undo the effects of the same. If after performing a vasectomy a couple decides that they do want a child, they can go for a vasectomy reversal.

However, this naturally brings down the chances of getting pregnant. But on a positive note, a number of couples are known to have successfully had conceived after vasectomy reversal as well.

· Types Of Vasectomy Reversal

Once you have decided that you want a vasectomy reversal, your doctor will evaluate the quality of your sperm by taking a sample of the fluid at the end of the vas deferens. If an adequate quantity of sperm is noticed in the fluid sample, doctors usually go for the vasovasostomy(VV).

If the same is not the case, doctors usually prefer to go for vasoepididymostomy (VE) form of vasectomy reversal. Both the types of vasectomy reversals are absolutely safe and are not known to affect the overall health of an individual. Going for VE ensures that any problems or blockages in the epididymis are dealt with.

· In Vitro Fertilization

If both the aforementioned methods of vasectomy reversal fail, another possible way to get pregnant would be via in vitro fertilization of IVF. In this method, sperms are surgically removed from the man's body and those are then made to fertilize the eggs in the woman's body.

Thus, this is a method by which a couple can have a baby without indulging in any form of sexual intercourse. This has a higher success rate as compared to vasectomy reversal and takes care of other fertility-related issues (like female infertility) as well.