Post-Vasectomy Sperm Extraction Procedures
Besides vasectomy reversal, another option for men who have had a previous vasectomy to have a child who is biologically related to him is to have a testicular sperm extraction combined with IVF/ICSI. Dr. Russell works closely with all 7 IVF groups in the South/Central Ohio region, and has performed extractions for IVF groups as far away as Indianapolis as well.
The Extraction Procedure
Dr. Russell performs his sperm extractions under IV sedation or local anesthesia. The office-based procedure takes about 30-40 minutes and is 90+% successful in retrieving good numbers of sperm as long as some basic blood hormone testing (performed prior to the extraction) is normal. Sperm extractions are typically well tolerated and most men can return to desk-type work in 2 or 3 days.
Once extracted, the sperm are then sent to the IVF lab for processing and freezing and will be used at the time of the wife's egg retrieval for ICSI (where a single sperm is injected directly into each egg in the lab). The IVF/ICSI part is performed by the female reproductive specialist and typically costs about $12,000.00 per cycle.
Do Extracted Sperm Need to Be Used for IVF/ICSI?
A common question is whether extracted sperm can be used for artificial insemination (in which sperm are placed directly within the uterus of the female at the time of ovulation). Unfortunately, for artificial insemination to have a decent chance of success there needs to be millions of fully mature sperm. The extraction procedure typically finds hundreds or thousands (not millions) of sperm, and the sperm have not gone through the entire maturation process (and are therefore not good swimmers). So while the sperm work very well for IVF/ICSI (typically 40-45% pregnancy success per cycle), their chance of success with artificial insemination is very low (<1%).
