4 Types of Vasectomy Reversal Doctors (and the Three to Avoid!)

There are four categories of doctors that can legally perform vasectomy reversals, even if they are not trained. It can be challenging to find the real experts among so many that are not qualified. This article should help.

1. True Experts. These are the doctors you want – respected, experienced, trained urologists that are true micro-surgeons who perform reversals frequently, stay up-to-date attending fertility society meetings, publish papers, write book chapters and teach courses to other reversal doctors. These doctors are the only ones that will give you the highest chances for success with the fewest complications. There are only a handful of these around the country and world. Among this group there are a very small number of elite urologists who have dedicated their entire practice to only vasectomy reversals. You are smart to limit your choices to a urologist in this “true expert” category.

2. Wannabe Experts. These are general urologists who create an illusion of expertise and want you to think they are the same as the true experts. They know that if they have an impressive website and claim to be an expert, many will incorrectly assume that they are an expert when they are not. They will have successes but at a much lower rate with more problems that a true expert.

3. Hobby Doctor. This category of general urologists will gladly do your reversal, telling you that they are “trained” and claiming they can do a great job, but only as part of a busy general urology practice while they also care for everything else – prostate cancer, bladder tumors, ED, UTI’s, stones and kidney issues. These are usually good, competent urologists just down the street, but they may only perform a few reversals a year. Some quote the published success rates of true high-volume experts as if they were their own. But without the day-to-day reversal experience, they cannot not have perfected the necessary skills and judgment to perform reversals with high success.

4. False Experts. Yes, these are doctors and surgeons, but they are not urologists (urologists are the only doctors that have years of specialty training and experience in male reproductive medicine and surgery). Though hard to believe, these doctors are orthopedic surgeons, OB’s, general surgeons, plastic surgeons and family practice doctors. These doctors incorrectly believe the desire to do reversals with that whatever surgical experience they have had in a totally different field or from a weekend course or watching a few reversals, somehow qualifies them to claim to be expert in urologic microsurgery. It does not.

What these false experts don’t understand is that there is much more to reversal success than throwing a few sutures. Critical aspects of male fertility, sperm function and hormones are just as important before, during and after for success. Yet these doctors just don’t get it, and that’s the problem. What’s even scarier is that they don’t even understand what they don’t understand.

As a urologist by training, no one in their right mind would say that I am qualified to start performing open heart surgery next week, even though I had experience with this decades ago in my residency.

We are confident that, like so many others that come to ICVR from every state in the US and more than 77 countries around the world, you will quickly understand why there is no reason to settle for anything less than the best.

Call us at 888-722-2929 or info@dadsagain.com for more information or to set up a no cost phone, office, FaceTime or Skype consultation with Dr. Marks or Dr. Burrows.