Vasectomy

Vasectomy is permanent birth control for men. It is a medical procedure that is intended to cause sterility. About 500,000 men in the U.S. choose vasectomy every year. It is chosen by men who have completed their families or by men who do not want children. These men want birth control that is intended to be permanent. They prefer vasectomy because most reversible methods are less reliable, sometimes inconvenient, and may have unpleasant side effects for the women in their lives.

Vasectomy is nearly 100 percent effective. It is intended to be permanent. It is safe. It doesn't limit sexual pleasure.

Vasectomy is a simple procedure. It makes men sterile by keeping sperm out of semen — the fluid that spurts from the penis during sex. Sperm are the reproductive cells in men. Pregnancy can happen if a sperm joins with a woman's egg.

Sperm are made in the testes. They pass through two tubes called the vasa deferentia to other glands and mix with seminal fluids to form semen. Vasectomy blocks each vas deferens and keeps sperm out of the seminal fluid. The sperm are absorbed by the body instead of being ejaculated. Without sperm, your "cum" (ejaculate) cannot cause pregnancy.

Vasectomy does not affect masculinity. And it will not affect your ability to get hard and stay hard. It also will not affect your sex organs, sexuality, and sexual pleasure. No glands or organs are removed or altered. Your hormones and sperm continue being produced. Your ejaculate will look just like it always did. And there will be about as much of it as before.

Vasectomy is not immediately effective. Sperm remains in the system beyond the blocked tubes. You must use other birth control until the sperm are used up. It usually takes about three months. A simple test — semen analysis — shows when there is no more sperm in the seminal fluid. Very rarely, tubes grow back together again and pregnancy may occur. This happens in about one out of 1,000 cases in the first year.

Do Not Consider Vasectomy If:

You want to have a child biologically in the future.
You are being pressured by your partner, friends, or family — you must want the operation.
You have marriage or sexual problems, short-term mental or physical illnesses, financial worries, or you are out of work — vasectomy is not a good solution for temporary problems.
You have not considered possible changes in your life, such as divorce, remarriage, or death of children.
You have not discussed it fully with your partner.
You plan to bank sperm in case you change your mind — sperm banks collect, freeze, and thaw sperm for alternative insemination. However, some men's sperm does not survive freezing. And after six months, frozen sperm may begin to lose the ability to fertilize an egg.

For more Information on Birth Control Visit http://www.plannedparenthood.org

Vasectomy

Male Vasectomy as Contraceptive