Is it possible for my sterilisation to be reversed?

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 (Q10.24). 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 Q10.25) obtained during IVF.

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