Surprise!
Tim Brummel and his wife, Rachel, were astonished to learn they were expecting a baby boy seven months after getting a vasectomy at a Florida clinic.
When Rachel recently became exceedingly weary and showed “signs of being pregnant,” Tim says he began to fear the surgery “failed.”
A call to the doctor verified his suspicions: the vasectomy had failed, and the clinic had never contacted him with the results of his follow-up tests.
“We’re not upset at all; we’d hoped to expand our family through adoption anyhow,” Tim tells PEOPLE, requesting that the clinic’s identity be removed. “It’s unprofessional not to inform us, but those [procedures] aren’t perfect, so I don’t blame them for failing.”
The clinic refused to speak to PEOPLE, citing patient privacy rules.
Tim says he underwent the treatment in December and returned five months later for a normal follow-up exam to ensure “there were no more swimmers still swimming around!”
“I never got my findings back,” Tim adds, “so I felt no news was good news.” “However, when Rachel began to show indications of pregnancy in July, I contacted the clinic, which informed me that one side [of the vas deferens (or ductus deferens)] had been unsuccessfully snipped.”
A follow-up semen exam – usually 3 to 4 months after the surgery – is recommended by the Cleveland Clinic since sperm can stay in the body for months.
Tim, 25, waited until he could confirm his wife’s pregnancy before alerting her about the unsuccessful operation.
“How many men have the opportunity to inform their wives that they are expecting a child?” Tim, Rachel’s 26-year-old brother, adds, “I wanted to surprise her!” “In the middle of the night, I shut off the toilet water and flushed until there was no water in it.”
“And the test resulted in a yes!”
Tim then captured the touching moment he told his wife and three young sons – and subsequently to their sons Jackson, 4, Sawyer, 3, and Wyatt, 1 – that she was expecting.
He describes her as “so, so excited.” “This child was destined for this planet!”
The couple, who now live in Canton, Georgia, had originally planned to have a vasectomy in order to adopt children.
“However, I believe it’s a God thing,” Tim explains. “We had planned to adopt, with a total of four or five children in mind, but God had other ideas!” What we had in mind was not the same as what God had in mind. And, to be honest, we may still adopt.”
The family considers the baby, who is due on March 4, to be a “complete blessing.”
“And we couldn’t be more pleased,” he continues. “It’s funny how life sometimes works out like that.”