Martin and Lorraine (age 41) flew over from Dublin in April 2007 for consultation. They had an extremely happy family of four children until 2006 when their 5 year old suddenly became unwell, then deteriorated alarmingly and so very sadly died as she was being rushed to hospital in the car. The cause of death was never found although it appeared to have been viral in origin.

It had been 4 years since Martin had his vasectomy. He and Lorraine consulted a Dublin urologist who saw no difficulty in the reversal which was done in December 2006 under general anaesthetic. Unfortunately this operation failed completely and Martin and Lorraine were distraught when they flew over for consultation in April 2007. It is said that you cannot replace a child but as Martin and Lorraine pointed out, a new baby would add new happiness to their devastated family.

The re-reversal was done in May (we gave them an urgent surgery appointment in view of Lorraine’s age, 41). It was a difficult procedure (see comment) which took 3 hours for one side. The second side was done 2 months later, and was equally difficult. Martin was beginning to look and sound more cheerful. The couple’s sex life was improving and they were feeling positive for the first time in over a year. Their delight was complete when the pregnancy was announced 8 weeks later and Fergus was born on 6th July 2008.

Martin was interviewed, telling his remarkable story on radio in 2009. He told us then that Lorraine (age 43) was pregnant again, this time due January 2010.

Clinic comment

It would be hard to find a more rewarding case than this. To say it makes the job worthwhile would be such an understatement!

When we examined Martin, we found large lumps (granulomas) at the site of the first reversal done in Dublin. This is caused by leakage of sperms from the connection. We obtained the operation notes from Dublin and this showed that the reversal had been done by inserting large stitches over a large removable stent placed inside the vas. We have done a number of re-reversals where this technique has been used and found that leaking, scarring and blocking is common. This procedure was in favour 30 years ago but there are far superior procedures available now.