About a week ago, I had a vasectomy, and I am very glad I have done this. I want to share my experience with others as it may help others out there thinking of getting a vasectomy.
Find a reputable doctor
Before getting a vasectomy, ask others who have had a vasectomy which doctors they recommend. Look for a reputable doctor. In Australia, I recommend Dr Snip, but if you are elsewhere in the world, check out the Childfree Friendly Doctors List.
Shaving your balls
The first difficulty of vasectomy is shaving your balls and penis. Basically when you get a vasectomy, the doctor needs to be able to see what they are doing, so they will normally ask you to shave your balls and penis beforehand. When I learned about this, it turned me off getting a vasectomy or at least it provided me with an excuse to delay it. I had a lot of public hair on my balls, so the thought of shaving it filled me with fear. It didn't want to cut myself down there.
Before booking the vasectomy appointment, over many months, I practised shaving my balls in the shower. Over time, I got used to shaving my balls after so much practice. My balls became quite smooth over time as was my penis. The key to shaving your private parts is to use a shaver with many blades on it and to also do it in the shower when the surface of the scrotum is slightly wet but not too wet. A bit of moisture helps make shaving your balls much easier. Also you start from the base of the penis and work your way down the balls. This makes it easier to shave.
Book the vasectomy and distract yourself
After you are confident with how to shave your balls, book the vasectomy and then don't think too much about it. Once it is booked, then the hard decision of whether to do it or not is gone. You are just following a process now. You are no longer proactive but reactive.
On the day of my vasectomy, I took the entire day off from work because I didn't want the hassle of juggling work and vasectomy. I wanted to keep the day as free from stress as possible.
After the shower, I had some brunch. To distract myself, I watched a lot of Netflix throughout the day. Before I knew it, it was time for my vasectomy, so had a shower, got dressed and drove to the medical centre.
Was the vasectomy painful?
The procedure was not too bad. There is a little bit of pain at the start when they inject the anaesthetic. There is about ten seconds of pain as the anaesthetic goes in, but after that it was fine. It reminds me of when I got my wisdom teeth removed back when I was a teenager. The only pain was when the orthodontist injects the anaesthetic into your gums, but after that there is no pain, but there is a weird feeling because you are awake and see the orthodontist drilling and pulling things out of your teeth, so it is scary. With a vasectomy, it is similar. You don't feel much but you know that they are working on your privates, and there is something unsettling about that.
I was able to drive back home. The doctor told me to take ibuprofen for the pain and if that doesn't work to also take paracetamol.
Recovering after a vasectomy
My balls felt quite sore and sensitive right after the vasectomy, so I was sure to take my ibuprofen and paracetamol. Over time, this soreness started to wane. After one week later, the soreness was almost gone and I was confident enough to masturbate again.
Generally speaking, right after the vasectomy, you should take it easy. Don't do any strenuous exercise. Also consider sleeping on your back for a few nights as sleeping on your sides means that your balls are pressed in between your legs. In my opinion, if you're not used to sleeping on your back, sleep with two pillows. Put one pillow under your head and the other on one of the sides of your head, right up to your ear. Usually when you're used to sleeping on your side, you're used to having a pillow on your ear.
Why get a vasectomy?
A vasectomy is a relatively simple and cheap way for a man to sterilise himself so that he cannot have a baby. There is a little bit of pain involved in getting a vasectomy, but it is quite small compared to other operations.
The cost of a vasectomy varies by cities and countries, but after government subsidies, I paid about 500 AUD (about 373 USD). This is a small price to pay compared to the cost of raising a child, which by some estimates is as much as $1 million.
Many of those who get vasectomies already have children and do not want anymore. Perhaps they realise how difficult it is to have kids and don't want anymore. If a heterosexual couple does not want kids, a vasectomy makes sense. Female sterilisation (aka the tubal ligation) is a much more complicated and invasive procedure. Condoms do work, but they are not foolproof. All it takes is a condom bursting and you suddenly have a baby.
There are also many single and childfree men who are deciding to have vasectomies e.g. they are concerned about climate change and burdening the planet with more babies. Some men are wealthy and are worried that their sperm may be stolen by women who are hungry for child support payments from them.
For me, it is a combination of all these arguments. I am less worried about the cost of children because I am in my mid-thirties and have a net worth of about $1.9 million now, so I think I can afford a child or two. I do worry sometimes about being targeted by women wanting child support payments, but I think this is a lower risk because even though I am almost a multimillionaire, most of the wealth is in intangible and invisible assets e.g. ETFs and cryptocurrency. I don't own any mansions or luxury cars, so I don't look rich. My main motivation for getting a vasectomy relates to the environment and animal welfare.
Humans cause a lot of destruction on the planet, polluting the oceans with plastic and filling the air with carbon dioxide. Furthermore, one billion animals are slaughtered every week just to feed humanity.
Not having kids has an exponential effect. If I don't have a child, not only does my child not pollute the earth or cause thousands of animals to be slaughtered, but so too my grandchild cannot pollute or slaughter others. My grandchild is likely to have kids as well, so my great-grandchildren also cannot harm others because they won't exist. If you get a vasectomy, the impact will be exponential.
Many people will claim that there is no such thing as morality or right or wrong in this world and therefore they are free to do as they please whether it is killing animals or polluting the planet or, if we take their logic a further step, rape children.
However, this lack of justice or morality in the world is another strong argument for not having children. Without any objective morality, there is no accountability on anyone to do anything right. As such, people engage in behaviour that cause others to suffer. As a result, new life created is at risk of suffering or is at risk of causing suffering. If we dislike suffering (which I do) then it makes no sense to have kids.
My life after a vasectomy
Getting a vasectomy has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. All the harm that my descendants would have caused has been prevented. I am also much more financially secure and can afford a higher standard of living in the future. I can also have sex with women without any fear of pregnancy. It has been a week since I've gotten my vasectomy, but I haven't told too many people. In fact, I haven't told any of my family members as they are somewhat conservative and may disapprove, but I do plan on bringing up the topic at some point. I am going to make an effort to talk to as many people as possible about the vasectomy so that I can possibly encourage others to also get vasectomies. I will try to encourage other men to get vasectomies, and I will also try to encourage women to encourage their husbands or boyfriends into getting vasectomies.
