I had a vasectomy 10 months ago and I'm still fertile, why?

You may need a repeat vasectomy bilaterally. It may be due to spontaneous re attachment or the healing process.

Published on Jul 11, 2012

There are two possible reasons: either 1) the procedure was not performed correctly, or 2) it was performed correctly and the vas deferens (the tube that carries the sperm) healed or reattached itself. The first scenario would result if the vas deferens was incorrectly identified on one or both sides. The likelihood of this happening typically relates to a clinician's experience with the procedure. The second scenario is known to occur, although the likelihood is very low, typically < 0.1% using standard techniques.

Published on Jul 11, 2012

As a general rule most urologists feel you need a minimum of 20 million sperm on a semen analysis to achieve pregnancy. Having said that it is "possible" achieve pregnancy with much fewer. When you use the term "fertile" it may be that your urologist has seen sperm in the post vasectomy specimen and has not cleared you for unprotected sex. You might inquire how many the urologist saw or ask that a semen analysis be done which actually counts the number of sperm as opposed to noting sperm. It usually takes approximately 20-30 ejaculations to reach azospermia (no sperm) however some men (approx 15%) will continue to have a small number of non motile sperm. Although most urologists are hesitant to recommend unprotected sex with any sperm seen on an analysis although most studies agree that some men continue to have the finding of small numbers of non motile sperm and that this would not cause pregnancy. I personally prefer to see no sperm before advising no protection. Patients now can test at home using a kit provided by spermcheck.com and it might be interesting to see how it registers for you. (The above statements pertain if "fertile" means that sperm are being seen post vasectomy in very small numbers. Obviously if pregnancy has occurred you'd need to speak to your urologist.)

Published on Jul 11, 2012