If you’re done having kids, you and your partner may be ready to start considering permanent contraceptive methods, like getting a vasectomy.
Here are some questions you might have had about getting a vasectomy, answered all in one place.
1. What is a vasectomy?
According to Family Doctor, a vasectomy is a sterilization procedure that involves cutting or blocking the vas deferns—the tubes where the sperm pass. There are two kinds of vasectomies: incision and non-incision. The latter is quick, simple, and safe, with no need for stitches.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
2. Why a vasectomy, and not ligation?
First of all, your wife’s body has been through enough, what with (perhaps multiple) pregnancies and labor. It’s time for you to bite the bullet for once. Plus, as Fatherly reports, the World Health Organization has found that vasectomies are now “safer, simpler, and about half the cost of female sterilization procedures.”
Go to the next page to read more about the vasectomy procedure.
3. Without any sperm, will anything come out during sex?
Short answer: yes. Sperm only makes up only 2-5% of your semen, so in fact, you shouldn’t be able to notice a difference between your ejaculations before and after your procedure. What happens to the sperm? Your body will simply absorb them. And no, it should not affect your sex drive.
Call your doctor first before you stop using birth control! (Photo: Dreamstime)
4. Can you have sex right away?
Most doctors would advise you to wait a week before having sex—and you’d probably want to wait anyway, as you’d be sore and groggy from the drugs.
5. Do vasectomies work instantly?
After your procedure, it’s important to note that you won’t be sterile immediately. You might still have sperm in your system for several weeks after the vasectomy. That’s why you should keep using birth control after your operation, until you get your semen analyzed by your doctor to get a go signal. According to Family Doctor, you might need to wait up to three months.
READ: Husband Surprises Wife With Pregnancy Announcement After Failed Vasectomy
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