It is quite common for couples to want to have children once the man has already undergone a vasectomy, either because of a change in his life, in his partner, or in his situation. In these cases, the application of assisted reproduction techniques is possible.
As sperm are not present in the semen sample, it is necessary to extract them directly from the testicle through outpatient surgery in which a biopsy is taken inside the testicle, under local anaesthesia or sedation. It is true, however, that the more time has elapsed since the vasectomy was performed, the more likely it is that sperm will not be found even in the testicle, or that they will be of poorer quality, although sperm can be found even in vasectomies carried out more than 15 years ago.
In these patients, the application of intracytoplasmic microinjection (ICSI) is required, since the number of sperm that can be recovered is scarce. In this technique, the sperm to be injected into each egg are selected one by one, favouring fertilisation and allowing these couples to have the option of becoming parents.
