Is it possible for sterilization to be reversed?
Sterilisation should not be regarded as temporary contraception. You should not contemplate sterilisation unless you are absolutely certain that your family is complete.
Doctors, perhaps more than many others, are well aware that life does not always follow an individual's aspirations. At least six times each year, I see a woman who re quests reversal of sterilisation. The notes always document that at the time of counselling before the sterilisation she was absolutely certain that her family was complete. The most common reason for the re quest for reversal is a change of partner. Clearly the younger the individual at the time of sterilisation, the longer the time for the sterilisation to be regretted.
There is sometimes a possibility for sterilisation to be reversed but surgery is by no means always successful. Reversal of female sterilisation is only possible when small sections of the Fallopian tubes have been blocked. If all, or a large parts, of the tubes have been removed, reversal would not be possible. If just one clip has been applied to each tube, reversal is successful in about 70% of cases. Medical insurance companies and most purchasing authorities in the NHS are unlikely to fund reversal of sterilisation.
If reversal of sterilisation fails there are still other possibilities. For the woman, pregnancy may still be possible by IVF (24). For the man, donor insemination (sperm from an anonymous healthy donor with similar physical characteristics) could be inseminated into the female partner. Another option is for sperm to be retrieved from above the sterilisation sight by surgical aspiration. Individual sperm can be injected into individual eggs (ICSI 25) obtained during IVF.
Please click on the required question.
- 1 Who can be sterilised?
- 2 What does female sterilisation involve?
- 3 How failsafe is female sterilisation?
- 4 How quickly does female sterilisation work?
- 5 How will I feel after laparoscopic sterilisation?
- 6 What are the risks of female sterilisation?
- 7 What effect will female sterilisation have on my periods?
- 8 Is my partner's consent required before I am sterilised?
- 9 My family is complete and I want to stop taking the pill but my periods were previously heavy. What are my options?
- 10 What is a vasectomy?
- 11 What are the risks of vasectomy.?
- 12 How effective is vasectomy?
- 13 How do vasectomy and female sterilisation compare?
- 14 Which of us should be sterilised?
- 15 Is it possible for my sterilisation to be reversed?
- 16 Support Groups.
- 17 Are there any support groups?
Thank you for choosing to visit us.
This is the personal website of David A Viniker MD FRCOG, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Whipps Cross University Hospital, London - Specialist Interests - Reproductive Medicine including Infertility, PCOS, PMS, Menopause and HRT.
I do hope that you find the answers to your women's health questions in the patient information and medical advice provided.
