If you have an appointment for a vasectomy in the CRG, you may report directly to the operating theatres at the time specified. A local anaesthetic will be administered and a small incision will be made in the scrotum. Via the incision, the vas deferens is severed and tied off. This is done on both sides. Because this quick and uncomplicated procedure is performed under local anaesthetic, you may go home straight afterwards. Some mild to moderate pain and swelling can be expected for a few days after the operation. This may affect your ability to walk normally.

 

The result of the operation, is that the sperms, which are produced in the testicles, no longer can be included in the composition of the semen. During sexual intercourse they are no longer introduced into the vagina. The ejaculate consists only of the fluids produced by the prostate and seminal vesicles.

However it is important to realize, that you are not directly infertile following a vasectomy. For weeks, sperm will still remain in the seminal vesicles and vas deferens. Only when the andrology lab confirms that there are no more sperm cells remaining in your ejaculate (by sample analysis) can you consider yourself sterile and stop using any form of contraception.

 

Vasectomy is a very simple procedure, but it involves a big decision which will affect the rest of your life. You have to regard it as a decision from which there is no going back. Even though there is a  vasectomy reversal operation available at the CRG, it is not always successful in restoring a mans' fertility. This is because 50% of men who have had vasectomy develop antibodies against their own sperm, causing them to adhere to each other and become immotile and therefore unable to reach an egg.