Vasectomy

A vasectomy is an operation aimed at semi-permanently restricting the release of sperm in a male patient, and therefore avoiding the possibility that he will impregnate someone. During the process the vas deferentia, which are the tubes that come from each of the testicles, are cut off or sealed out so that the sperm does not enter the seminal stream when the subject ejaculates. The more recent procedure of vasectomy is known as the Key-Hole method and involves puncturing the scrotum with a very sharp hemostat, kind of a locking scissors, and then cutting the tubes while leaving the smallest hole possible.

Sometimes the vas deferentia are merely held tightly in a clip rather than cut. This increases the likelihood of being able to reverse the vasectomy, in the event that the man undergoing it changes his mind later and wishes to have children. After a vasectomy, the testes still produce semen which is emptied into the scrotum, as it can no longer exit by the penis. As semen is only about 10% of the ejaculate, a vasectomy does not really affect the taste or appearance of the ejaculate. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, vasectomy operations fail only once in about 2000 cases, which is far more reliable than the equivalent procedure for women.

Furthermore, there is a lower rate of mortality and complication in vasectomy, as it is a much less serious surgery. After all, the testicles are basically outside of the body already, while the ovaries require invasive surgery which can be dangerous or even fatal, especially when the possibility of infection is taken into account.  It is for this reason that many couples opt for the man to undergo a vasectomy rather than have the female be operaton on.

Below is an image illustrating the before and after of a vasectomy.