Anjaan’s experience: The story of my freedom from fertility

Well, having heard so many horror stories about the procedure on the forum, I would like to report an absolutely painless case, if there’s any such thing.

A couple of months ago, my betrothed and I had decided that since we were thinking of tying the knot, it was time to tie up some other things too :-). The urologist, who BTW, had more than twenty years of expertise in this field, was a tad surprised that a 31-year-old with no offspring to speak of, would want to undergo an elective sterilization procedure. He was, however, rather impressed by my knowledge of the subject (thanks to this site!) and scheduled the appointment without further ado.

On the day of the surgery, I shaved myself as instructed, and the doctor swabbed the scrotum with an antiseptic solution and heated it for about fifteen minutes using a light bulb (boy, those 100-watt bulbs can get pretty hot!). I have a rather illogical fear of syringes, but the surgeon did a superb job, and the only thing that registered was a small pricking sensation – no pun intended :-).

The procedure used for the vasectomy was the no-scalpel close-ended technique, and the severed and cauterized vas deferens ends were secured with titanium clips. The doctor said he took off about 1/2 cm or so from both ends. There was no sense of discomfort what so ever, other than a somewhat unpleasant smell from the cauterizing. The doctor and his assistant performed the procedure with consummate ease, and it took no more than 15 minutes.

I took no pain medication, and followed instructions to the rote: applied the ice packs, stayed off my feet for the next 24 hours or so, and wore jockstraps for about three weeks. There was no swelling or pain to speak of, and I dabbed the wound with Neosporin and changed the bandage twice a day. Being very athletic, I resumed a somewhat cut back workout schedule after about three weeks, but was back to the “other” activity after about two weeks!

Anyway, it’s been about 9 weeks since the surgery, and I have received an all-clear signal. Being somewhat paranoid in these matters, however, I simply cannot bring myself to not use a condom (thanks to the specter of spontaneous re-canalization). I have returned to my full-fledged workout schedule, and am happy to report that things are as good as can be.

Update July 2, 2005

I read about attempts by religious fanatics to stuff your website with vasectomy horror stories and thought now might be a good time to give an update about a very blissful and uneventful one:

It’s been more than four years since I have had mine done for childfree reasons and still think that it’s one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Of course, I still can’t bring myself to go bare for the most part because of my continued paranoia. However, it’s reassuring to know that there’s a near 100% backup just in case something goes wrong with the rubber :).

Anyway, for those who might be worried about potential side effects on their active lifestyle, I am very athletic and run have several marathons in the years since. To summarize, fear not and go forth and get snipped so that you may not multiply :).

Submitted by Anjaan