Every year more than 500,000 men have a vasectomy. (That means he’s had surgery so there’s no sperm in his ejaculate.) This does tend to complicate things if you want to have a baby together. A vasectomy reversal surgery is clearly not as easy as foregoing a condom or discontinuing the pill.
Because the number of remarriages has increased so dramatically in this country, the number of vasectomy reversals continues to climb. The reversal costs anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000, depending on the doctor and how complicated the surgery is going to be. It is typically not covered by health insurance.
The success rate of impregnation after a reversal decreases depending on the length of time since he had the original surgery. If he had his vasectomy less than three years ago, you have approximately a 76 percent chance of getting pregnant.
If he had the surgery between three and eight years ago, the chances drop to 53 percent; between nine and fourteen years, you’ve got about a 44 percent chance of getting pregnant. If it’s been more than fifteen years, your chances drop to 20 percent.
So if your man has had a vasectomy, make sure you both talk early on about whether or not you want a child together, because the sooner he gets the reversal, the better are your chances of having a baby.