Family planning is always complex and requires thorough discussions and open communication with your partner. It takes time and thoughtfulness to figure out what is best for your family. A vasectomy is a single procedure that provides permanent sterilization by preventing sperm from reaching the ejaculate. There are SO many benefits to a couple choosing vasectomy as their form of birth control, so let’s talk about why your man’s vasectomy should be celebrated!!
It’s a Responsible Choice
Once you decide that you no longer want to have biological children, it’s important to figure out a form of contraception that provides efficacy and longevity. You want to choose the best option for preventing unplanned pregnancies, especially if you know that you don’t want to expand your family any further. The best option for this is either a tubal ligation (for biological females) or vasectomy (for biological males).
Health Benefits
Most pregnancies go well, but some do not! Pregnancy is always a threat to the quality of life and life in general to the mom. Complications in pregnancy include anywhere from high blood pressure, high blood sugar, dehydration to more serious complications such as blood clots, life threatening bleeding, and even death. By choosing vasectomy and ensuring that your guy cannot get you pregnant, he is reducing your risk for having these very serious pregnancy-related complications!
Additionally, a vasectomy does not cause any hormonal changes in men as many forms of birth control do for women. Therefore, a vasectomy also saves the female partner from having to deal with those types of contraception.
For men undergoing vasectomies, there are proven benefits of reduced anxiety and improved mental health. Studies have shown that this can translate to an improvement in physical health as well. So while a vasectomy may not alter your guys physical health first hand, it does via downstream effects.
Financial Savings
Your man’s vasectomy can save your family money! First of all, an unplanned child can be costly. The health-related expenses of pregnancy, child-birth, and postpartum care are thought to be around $18,000 with the average out-of-pocket cost being around $2,000.
At purely vasectomies, the vasectomy package costs $1,000 cash, but we also work with most insurance plans for possible reimbursements. That’s thousands of dollars worth of savings on just the medical care alone. If you account for all of the items, diapers, clothes, furniture, toys, and everything that is needed to care for a newborn, you can easily see how cost-effective a vasectomy is!
Now let’s compare a vasectomy to other forms of birth control! While all forms of female contraception are typically low or no out of pocket costs after insurance, without insurance they can be pretty pricey. A tubal ligation surgery can cost up to $6,000. Birth control pills can cost somewhere around $15-$30/month. The IUD or nexplanon implants can cost around $1200 and require replacement every few years, depending on the type. A vasectomy would be at most a one-time $1,000 cost, which would end up being cheaper than any of those options!
Strengthened Relationship, Increased Sexual Freedom
By taking time to have open communication about different types of birth control and what is best for your family, you will likely form a stronger bond. Understanding where each person is coming from and knowing what their thoughts and hopes are will certainly add an extra layer to your relationship. This helps improve emotional intimacy and leads to a deeper level of love. While talking and communicating can lead to better emotional intimacy, the actual procedure can lead to better physical intimacy as well.
Vasectomy provides an avenue for the most spontaneous sex! Other forms of birth control such as condoms or even birth control pills require some forethought and planning. If your partner has had a vasectomy there is no need to even think “have I missed any pills this month” or “where did we put the condoms”. Spontaneous sex is the best kind of sex. It’s more relaxing and enjoyable without all of the worry during or afterwards.
Positive Impact on Mental Health
Anxiety about family planning can really weigh on a couple. Expanding a family takes up a lot of physical, financial, and emotional resources. Once a couple decides that they no longer want children, the anxiety can increase as all of those tolls are compounded by the added undesirability of the situation. Birth control in general provides some security and can help assuage those anxieties, but certain forms of birth control are more or less reliable than others. A vasectomy is a highly effective form of birth control that is considered permanent. Many men and couples feel high levels of relief and lower levels of anxiety related to sex after a vasectomy. Some men have even reported higher levels of sexual satisfaction after a vasectomy!! Having a vasectomy does not change anything related to sexual pleasure physically, but the thought of not being able to start a pregnancy after a vasectomy can be very freeing!
Now, if you have chosen a vasectomy as your family’s plan for contraception, you should be able to take a huge breath of relief. This is a wonderful thing that you have chosen that is cost-effective, reduces health risks for the female, improves the well being of the person who underwent the vasectomy, and can make your relationship stronger. So, after the vasectomy and after the semen sample has confirmed that there’s no more sperm, grab a celebratory meal and go have some spontaneous, worry-free sex to celebrate!!
