Reversal of sterilisation (not routinely commissioned)

For the treatment of

Male and Female Adults wishing to reverse sterilisation for fertility 

Commissioning position

This intervention is not commissioned and therefore should not be routinely offered to patients. Application for funding approval can be made, using the IFR process, by the clinician recommending the intervention, if their assessment is that there are exceptional reasons why their patient could benefit from it. 

Summary of rationale

Sterilisation should be regarded as a permanent procedure and standard practice is that counselling pre-operatively should highlight the irreversibility/permanence of sterilisation and that sterilisation reversal is not routinely available via the National Health Service. 

 

Reversal is technically feasible, but the likelihood of restoring fertility depends on various factors including the interval since the sterilisation procedure, the type of procedure and the procedure used for reversal. 

References

Contraception - sterilization | Health topics A to Z | CKS | NICE 

FSRH Clinical Guideline: Male and Female Sterilisation (September 2014) - Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare 

Associated Pathways

Female sterilisation York Pregnancy advisory services York YorSexual health (YSH) – contraception and sexual health York

Specialties

Gynaecology York Gynaecology North Yorkshire Urology York Urology North Yorkshire Urology Hull Urology East Riding Urology North Lincolnshire Urology North East Lincolnshire

Places covered by

  • east-riding
  • hull
  • north-east-lincolnshire
  • north-lincolnshire
  • north-yorkshire
  • vale-of-york
Author:
Date created: 17/06/2025, 10:15
Last modified: 16/07/2025, 08:32
Date of review: 31-10-2027