The Clarks' Story

State-of-the-heart technology right here in Rochester makes this stork’s flight short and sweet.

Timothy and Denyse Clark married knowing they wanted children. But they also married knowing that Tim, in his mid 40s, had a vasectomy over a decade ago.

They started where any couple would, researching their options, weighing the positives and negatives of various procedures - medically, financially, ethically. They scoured all the major websites, searching for a voice of hope.

After much consideration, the couple decided that a reverse vasectomy was right for them. While entertaining the possibility of having the procedure done out-of-state, the Clarks decided to consult their own trusted physicians. That’s when they first heard their voice of hope, and her name was Dr. O’Brien.

The Clarks quickly gathered information on this unanimous recommendation. They found Dr. Jeanne O’Brien was using most cutting edge technology available, performing high-powered microsurgery that brought their odds to a staggering 70-80% success rate.

The Clarks made an appointment.

We had a consultation with Dr. O’Brien and she examined my husband to see if he was even a candidate, and she said that “he definitely was,” recalls Denyse. “Then we went home. We talked about it. We thought about it. We figured out how we were going to finance it, and decided to go for it. And that was it”

Not wanting to make a production of it, the Clarks quietly checked into Strong Memorial Hospital on December 20th, 2007.

Then Denyse waited.

She waited for 3.5 hours—a half hour over the upper limit of the procedure’s typical duration. When Dr. O’Brien emerged, she had both good and bad news to share. She had successfully reattached one of Timothy's vas deferens, but the other side was virtually impossible to repair.

Fortunately, Dr. O’Brien explained to Denyse that this would not negatively impact their chance of conception. They were now as able to conceive as any healthy couple.

“Recovery was pretty easy,” Denyse remembers. “Within a week, Tim was back to work like nothing had happened.” He suffered no complications and never filled his pain prescription medications.

Adamant that they would not turn getting pregnant into a project, the couple went on with their lives and patiently waited for the recommended healing period to pass.

In early May, the couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They celebrated by having their photos taken by a friend. They later used that photo to send out a very special announcement—they were already pregnant. Unbeknownst to them, there had been three people in those photos, not two.

Just over a year after their procedure, the Clarks were delivering their first child. Denyse carried the child full-term, and gave birth to a happy, healthy baby boy, Benjamin Clark, on January 22nd, 2009. He weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz.

“He is perfect!” Denyse gushes. “We want to have another!”

“It’s been an amazing experience. Without Dr. O’Brien, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to have children. We’re just so grateful that it’s right here in Rochester. It’s such a blessing to have cutting edge technology so close to home. We just can’t say enough about Dr. O’Brien.”