You probably don’t want to hear about this, but I’m going to say it anyway (not to try and put hubby off though). I had a very bad experience when I had the ‘snip’.
The default option was general anaesthetic, but I was determined to have local anaesthetic only (because of the unpleasant side effects of general and the risks), so they scheduled me last into theatre (I wouldn’t need so long to recover); I had to sit there with my arse sticking out of a hospital gown all day while they wheeled everybody in and out, but that wasn’t the bad bit.
The anaesthetic injections were moderately painful (but not nearly as bad as a kick in the 'nads), the surgeon told me that I wouldn’t feel a thing and this was true for the first tube, but the anaesthetic mustn’t have applied evenly because I felt the full sensation of the second entry incision (which was done with surgical scissors). They gave me another injection which killed the pain fairly quickly.
I went home a couple of hours later, wearing the recommended tight undies, and was very achy and tender for a few days (I took the whole week off work), trouble is that I got a nasty case of jock itch (which I put down to a combination of tight underpants and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to wash for two days).
I returned to work the following week (on a Friday), but felt very ill and had to be taken home halfway through the day after nearly collapsing; I rested at home in the afternoon, but felt worse. Saturday morning, I had a high temperature and felt worse still; noticing that my left one was very swollen (think tennis ball), I called NHS direct (a telephone health advice line here in the UK) and after describing the situation, they told me to seek immediate urgent medical attention, which I did.
It was a nasty infection, but the antibiotics (two courses) that the doctor prescribed cleared it up.
The self-dissolving stitches simply didn’t dissolve; two months later they were still intact, my doctor wasn’t particularly interested in removing them, so I had to do it myself, but the skin had kind of grown around them, so there was a little ‘collateral damage’ involved in cutting them.
So anyway, I suppose you think I’d have little reason to recommend the operation, but in fact I don’t regret it at all (sure, I’d like to have had an easier time of it, but hey). There’s no way to fully describe the effect it has had, but it’s mainly about relaxation and not having to fumble about with condoms (which I always hated).
I had to undergo two counselling sessions before the operation (on the National Health Service) to make sure that I was absolutely certain. I have two children and that’s enough, so I was sure it was what I wanted.
Vasectomy is (in theory) a far simpler procedure than the equivalent for a female.
I would say though that even though vasectomy can sometimes be reversed, you should approach it as if it is permanent; BE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you won’t change your mind in a year or two.