
My Partner Had a Vasectomy. I Had My Tubes Tied. Can We Get Pregnant?
Change the Man (or Woman), Now Change the Plan Vasectomy, surgical severing of the tubes that carry sperm from the testicles into the semen, is one of the most common forms of contraception in the U.S. When a couple feels that their family is complete or that they really don’t want children, surgical sterilization of the male partner is a nearly 100 percent sure way to prevent pregnancy. About 500,000 men get vasectomies every year, according to a study done at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
An even greater number of women, some 650,000, undergo tubal ligation every year in the U.S. “Having your tubes tied” is a procedure where the fallopian tubes, which carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus, are blocked or cut. This, too, is an effective form of birth control.But life happens, as the saying goes. A breakup, divorce, death of a child or a partner—any of these life events can change a person’s mind about having children. If your partner has had a vasectomy or you had your tubes tied and you now want to have a child, the good news is there are alternatives that are often successful, from vasectomy reversal to fertility treatments such as IVF In vitro fertilization can be less painful and more likely to result in pregnancy than reversing tubal ligation, and can enable you to have a child when reversing a vasectomy isn’t possible.

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