What Happens to Sperm after a Vasectomy?

It is normal to feel some apprehension about the state of your sperm after a vasectomy. Anyone with a working knowledge of how the male body works will realize that it will change considerably after a vasectomy. After all, the vas tubes are the passageways through which sperm joins the semen in an ejaculation and with these tubes cut or blocked, the sperm will now have to be reabsorbed by the body or expelled by the body as waste material.

There is no change whatsoever to the testes, since it will continue to produce sperm like it did before the vasectomy. However, the sperm after a vasectomy will only be present in the semen until a maximum period of about six months. This is why it is critical for the patient to bring in semen samples to his/her urologist to be tested for sperm. In the meantime, the patient should not rely on the vasectomy alone and must use alternative methods of birth control.

Since sperm only makes up a mere one percent of semen, there is no need to worry that there will be changes in the color, consistency or texture of this. Similarly, the testosterone levels and sexual drive of the patient will not be affected by a vasectomy.

Sperm After a Vasectomy – Things to Watch Out For

As with all surgical procedures, there is still the risk of encountering some adverse side effects. While the testes continue to produce sperm after a vasectomy, the sperm cells may often come into contact with immune cells in the body, breaking the barriers that normally separate these two cells. The development of anti-sperm antibodies is responsible for causing immune reactions in the body of the patient which could eventually lead to other diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Local inflammation or swelling of the testes, called orchitis is also one of the complications that could develop after a vasectomy. In rare instances, this could be asymptomatic of an infection that has been caused by the reabsorption of the sperm back into the body or other foreign agents during the surgical procedure. Although this may or may not have bearing on the sperm after a vasectomy, it is imperative that you inform your physician when this happens, since this occurs most often in the year following a vasectomy procedure.

There are also some cases wherein the existence of rare, non-motile sperm has been found in the semen even six months after a vasectomy. When this happens, it could be indicative of a failure in the vasectomy procedure. This comes about largely because of small openings in the scar tissue and connective tissue of the vas deferens where sperm could escape. It has been largely difficult to track the progress and development of patients with this condition since most men who undergo a vasectomy do not return to their urologist for frequent follow-up appointments.