vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

HI
I am new to the board and hope no one minds me asking a few questions
Dh and I have 2 DD's that we adore.
After DD 2 was born, DH had a vasectomy - he was adamant that he did not want anymore children.
I on the other hand wanted more but getting two out of DH was hard enough so I figured, count my two blessings and respect DH's position.
WELL, DH has changed his mind and is willing to go for a third
I guess all my pestering has paid off
So now, what do we do
I have been reading and researching and it looks like our two choices are a vasectomy reversal or going through IVF with a sperm retrieval.
Has anyone been through this ?
What was your experience and recommendations?
We had an appointment with DH urologist that did the vasectomy and he recommended Dr. Mellinger for the reversal since he specializes in the reversals - has anyone used him?
and he also recommended an RE - Dr.Gilbert- but unfortunately does not take any insurance . can anyone recommend another RE because at this point I feel I am just trying to ask questions and get as much information as possible.
DH and I are in our late 30's if that matters at all
thank you very much
and good luck to everyone!!!!!

ETA - not sure if it matters but DH vasectomy was almost 2 years ago

Message edited 4/27/2014 10:35:41 PM.

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

I don't have any real knowledge, but from what I know a vasectomy reversal is a fairly "easy" procedure. I do know that the procedure for sperm retrieval is very invasive, painful and has a long recovery time. Then you would have to do IVF, too, which is more surgeries. I don't know why you would jump to the latter before trying the reversal. Just my opinion.

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

You and I already spoke a bit about this, but since you brought up something we hadn't previously spoken about, I thought I'd respond.

One of the issues with a reversal, though there are many, is that it can take up to a year for the sperm to be fully present again. When we learned that DH's reversal was not successful, we knew it would be a waste of time and money to have a repeat reversal with a different doctor. Also in our late 30s at the time, we knew time was not on our side.

Initially, for us, it wasn't a choice between DH having the reversal or us trying IVF. Our insurance required that DH have a reversal before they would cover IVF. When we pursued IVF, we had to provide medical records documenting that DH had a reversal.

If you have infertility coverage, I would check what your insurance company's requirements are. That information may be helpful in deciding which route to pursue.

I'll also mention that it is rare for insurance to pick up the cost of a reversal (fascinating since they'll play for the vasectomy). There is a huge difference in cost amongst different urologists. Likewise, TESE and TESA are generally not covered by insurance, though this can vary by policy. It's important to know that the difference in cost can vary by thousands of dollars.

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

Reversal is very painful and takes lots of time for recovery. For us, it never worked and we had to do the second.

As for getting sperm, it is faily easy and not as painful - wish we would have done that and not wasted the money, or time on the reversal.

I live in FL - so I did not use those doctors. It was only around $1000 to extract the sperm and they do it the day of the transfer. They can also freeze it.

Hope this helps!

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

Again, I could be wrong, but I thought a vasectormy reversal is about a week's recovery. DH had TESE and his recovery time was measured in months. It was not definitely not an "easy" procedure and for a long time, it was very painful for him afterwards. Very.

Re: vasectomy reversal vs IVF with sperm retrieval ??

Thank you very much for all the information.
WE have an appointment on Wednesday with the urologist specialist so hopefully we will get some more information.
I will also definitely contact my insurance company to gather that information.
Thank you