Are there alternatives to vasectomy reversal?

Yes. Your doctor can obtain sperm from the testicle or epididymis by either a needle aspiration or surgery. But the sperm are not useful for simple, inexpensive office artificial inseminations. Instead, the sperm that are obtained by such methods require the more complex, expensive ($10,000 to $15,000) in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Most centers report a 30 percent to 35 percent pregnancy rate each time IVF with ICSI is performed if the female partner is younger than 37, but much lower rates if she is older. Since studies consistently show that vasectomy reversals are more cost-effective in achieving pregnancy than obtaining sperm for IVF with ICSI, your better option is with the reversal.