Vasectomy - How easy/difficult to get it done?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by a recent Sampiro thread in MPSIMS on being a father (sperm donation), I was wondering how easy/difficult it is in your part of the world to get a doctor/surgeon to perform a vasectomy.

Brief context. Past, thirty-something, childless, not in relationship, I decide that I want to remain childless. I approach my doctor. In short, she refuses to okay the procedure. Tells me I’m being selfish, and I need to go away and think about it.

Fast forward to now, forty-something, still childless, happily involved, now even more resolved to remain childless, and I start the process once again. Not the same doctor, but the same practice, same files. Although she can see I really mean business, I still have to jump through a number of hoops.

*“Are you sure?” * Yes.
*“What about your SO?” * Although she is supportive (has a child of her own) I still see it as entirely my decision.

She finally agrees and refers me to a urologist, and as true as horny badgers, I have to go through another battery of hurdles, complete with, “okay, I’ll do it, but have you considered donating sperm?”

Helloooooo??? I don’t want to procreate, why is that such a difficult thing to understand? You’d think that with overpopulation as it is you’d be only too happy to prevent another pregnancy?

Anyway, the snip is done, all’s well that ends well.

And so, back to my question, how easy/difficult is it to get a vasectomy done?

2

I was asked a few “Are you sure” type questions, but as I have five children I was able to brush those aside fairly easily.

3

I have a few friends who have had it done, none had any problems. I would advise bedrest for as long as your surgeon orders. One friend felt so good after surgery that he went to work and was on his feet all day. He swelled up big time.

4

And that’s a bad thing?

:smiley:

5

My urologist simply had my wife sign a form saying she knew and consented to it and I had no problem.

… I did debate fighting it, It’s MY body afterall, my wife should have no say in what I do to it. But decided it wasn’t worth the hastle.

6

Toss a batch of swimmers into the sperm bank. THat way if you change your mind, you still have the option of makin’ a baby.

7

I had it done at 25, after two kids. They asked “You sure?”; I said “Yup.” and they told me to come back in X weeks for the procedure.

8

I got mine done at the ripe old age of 24. I had to call around a bit, but I let my fingers do the walking (maybe that’s not the best metaphor, given the subject matter), called up urologist offices and asked point-blank, “All other things being equal, if someone is an acceptable physiological candidate for a vasectomy, do you have any policy or other barrier that would stop you from performing a vasectomy on a young adult unmarried male?” I was in Athens GA in the 1980s and I think it took about 5 phone calls.

9

I asked my regular doc about it, he sent me to another doc who performs the procedure. Second doc gave me an interview to be sure I wanted it done then booked me for the procedure about 2 weeks later. I was 35 and have no children.

10

A friend of mine got one done and had to go to a pre-snip info class of some kind. He was there with eight or nine other guys. He was the only one who brought his SO. The doctor asked for a show of hands to see how many of the people there told their SO about it. Everyone said that they did. The doctor then told an embarrassing story of talking to the wife of a recent patient at a party and the wife finding out about the surgery at that time. Oops.

I’m thinking about getting me one of those soon but I am nervous about it. Typically, how long do you have to rest in bed after the snip.

11

Not really at all. Its a day to sit on the couch with a bag of frozen peas in your lap and a guy movie while the woman you just freed from a life of hormonal bondage to a little case of pills brings you beers and feels sorry for you.

(unless you are doing this within three months of her giving birth, in which case she laughs at you, calls you a wimp, and if you whine, starts describing an episiotomy and then goes and nurses the baby again.)

12

Weird. I called my doc, told her I wanted to get a vasectomy. She gave me the number of a urologist. I called 'em up, said, “I wanna get snipped.”

They said, “Okay. When’s good for you?”

That was the extent of the interrogation.

13

Thanks for the responses, folks.

hajario, I suspect that the procedure has changed somewhat over the past few years. I wasn’t told to get bedrest, however, I was instructed to avoid sex and sport (in that order) for 10 days. I was also told not to drive a car the next day (after-effects of the general anaesthetic) and to wear scrotal support for two weeks, which helped a lot. Strangely I had very little swelling, and absolutely no pain whatsoever.

In my opinion, the only discomfort is the embarrassment factor. Exposing yourself to a roomful of strangers is not exactly fun. :slight_smile:

14

Spoiler for the guys.

Um, as long as you like testes the size of oranges, not at all!

I don’t know why there’s such a fuss about it; if you don’t know by the time you’re 30 that you DON’T WANT CHILDREN, when the hell DO you know? At 50? 80? On your deathbed? And for heaven’s sakes, it’s not like it’s not the easiest thing to get around even in a marriage-- there are children to adopt, sperm banks for the borrowing, and so on. Not to mention if you’re single and decide you’d like to raise some kids, there are skillions of single women with kids out there who would LOVE a man interested in being a husband and father.

One of my co-workers in his mid-20’s is currently saving up for the procedure; he’s got one child and says that with his career prospects, one is all he can really afford. I told him he was brilliant and shook his hand.

We need that sort of thinking to be supported, not are-you-sured to death.

Corrvin

15

Corrvin, I couldn’t agree with you more, and that is why I found the local attitude somewhat baffling, not to mention frustrating.

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Oh, by the way, hajario, if you do go this route, keep in mind that you are not going to be firing blanks from day one. There is a 3 month waiting period before you are deemed safe, and then only once your sperm count has been tested.

Oy vey, that’s the next hurdle, eeewwwwwwww… :o

17

Clearly, you and I have a different idea of what fun is. :wink:

What the hell is scrotal support? Do jockey briefs count?

18

Scrotal support = jock strap. Don’t use the cup though, just trust me on this.