babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
They Say: Half of Guys Don’t Follow up on Vasectomy
Finally a little proof of what women have always thought: guys have no follow through. So say the scientists who have determined half of the men who undergo a vasectomy never check in to ensure their swimmers have really stopped swimming.
Some fifty million men have had vasectomies in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health, but a new study posits at least forty-six percent of them never went back to the doc for an analysis of their semen. And you know what that means?
Forty-six percent of men could become daddies unwittingly. Reported in the December issue of the Journal of Contraception, the study looked at two hundred fourteen men who underwent a vasectomy. They found ninety-nine never returned for the semen analysis necessary to determine the vasectomy procedure was complete.
Cross-checking the men for “sociodemographic predictors,” the scientists found that men who were more likely to skip the follow-up also were more likely to have four or more kids (whether that was before or after the snipping it doesn’t say), more likely to smoke and have a lower educational level.
Interestingly, the last time the folks at Contraception looked at the success rates of vasectomies, back in 2004, they found that ninety percent of post-vasectomy pregnancies were caused by men having un-protected sex during the immediate post-vasectomy period. In other words – men either didn’t seem to understand or didn’t care that the vasectomy doesn’t immediately stop the sperm. Which would likewise explain why they’re not following up.
So what’s the good news? If non-compliance is related to socio-demographic factors, the NIH’s statements that the rate of vasectomies increases with education level and soci0-economic status would point to MORE men taking advantage of the post operative analysis.
Did you or your male partner go through the follow up or are you doing it on a wing and a prayer?
Image: erik cleves kristensen via flickr
More by this author:
Go Back To Strollerderby
2 Comments
Eric commented on Dec 29 09 at 4:03 pm“Finally a little proof of what women have always thought: guys have no follow through.” Because it can’t be sexist if its not about women, right?
Cin-diego commented on Dec 30 09 at 7:31 pmWould have been interesting to include the stats on how many vasectomies fail in the long term — accdg to the link, only 0.1% (1/1000) — maybe if you don’t have health insurance, NOT going for a follow-up is an intelligent, cost-effective measure, considering the low risk.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
2