Personal experiences

Andy had his vasectomy done at a Marie Stopes clinic in London. Andy's story mainly documents his recovery - which was longer than a couple of days. He found this site his recovering and says:- "I wish I'd found this site before the op. The problem with many web accounts is that they're self selected by men who've had a nightmare. It was great to read accounts with a different perspective. Also the official line seems to be that either you have a serious complication or you should be back to work within a couple of days – no grey areas. It was great to read about guys whose experience was basically OK but had strange aches and swellings like me."

"I didn't think I would ever have the need for a vasectomy. We tried for 6 years to have children using all means possibly and spending around $40,000 in the process. After deciding it just wasn't in God's plans for us to have children we stopped trying. Within a couple of weeks my wife was pregnant with our son. When my mom passed away and me being an only child I didn't want my son to have to go through that experience and we decided to try for a second child. The very first try my wife was pregnant with our daughter. That led me to consider the vasectomy since I am now older and facing several health issues. We just felt we were extremely blessed and didn't want to risk another pregnancy later on in life."

Football fan's short vasectomy story.

"I am a 44 year old father of three that has been happily married for 21 years. My wife and I have been contemplating having a vasectomy for years, but there was always something that came up and we never took the time to have it done. Finally this year we made a plan and followed through." Kevin had difficulties during the procedure (including a nurse feeling sick!) because of a tight scrotum. The doctor told him he might have to have it done under a general anesthetic, but in the end it was done under a local.

Divorced dad's vasectomy experience. Max has three kids from his previous marriage, and his partner has a son too. The pill didn't work for Max's first wife, so this time round he's gone for the snip.

Ray had a large (grade 3) hydrocele, and anticipated problems because of this complication. His story is in the form of a diary running from the day of the operation to day 9. The story also has good advice for men considering vasectomy who have a hydrocele.

Short, positive story about vasectomy in Thailand.

"I've been bothered with chronic epididymitis most of my adult life, with pain ranging from barely noticeable to flat on my back in ER wanting to rip out the offending part with a spoon. Needless to say, performance was an issue during these times and condoms were certainly of no assistance. The thought of an unplanned pregnancy was always lurking in the back of my mind-which was also of no assistance in the performance department. So, what other option does a guy have but to entrust his most precious possessions to a (hopefully) skilled professional for alteration."

However, Tim is childfree. Coupling the epidiymitis with the childfree status meant that his doctor wasn't so keen....