Wednesday March 31, 2004

Vasectomy-Reversal More Difficult than Previously Thought

CHELTENHAM, March 31, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the British Fertility Society conference in Cheltenham, England, the fertility research community heard today that vasectomies may be more difficult to reverse than was previously suspected. Queen's University Belfast researchers have found that men who have had vasectomy reversals have a sperm count that is as much as three times lower than men who have never undergone a vasectomy.

One of the Queen's researchers, Dr Carmel McVicar, said: "We did not expect to see this reduction in sperm count or pregnancy due to previous vasectomy and ongoing studies are attempting to decipher the reasons for it."

The study was a small one, with only 54 couples participating. Tissue was taken and biopsy results of post-vasectomy men showed that the sperm-generating capacity was impaired. Said Dr. McVicar, "Men who are considering vasectomy certainly need to think very carefully about the long-term consequences to their future fertility."

Read BBC coverage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3583557.stm

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04033109.html

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.