Man Goes In For A Vasectomy & This Is The Pamphlet He’s Given

Let’s hear it for the boys. Specifically, for the boys (men) who step up and get a vasectomy. Vasectomies aren’t exactly a relationship equalizer — especially if you’re talking about a man who’s fathered children in a relationship with someone who’s gone through the months of growing and then birthing those children. Compared to that, a minutes-long procedure with a generally easy recovery period isn’t that big a deal. But, it’s a great way for a guy to tell his partner “Your body has done a lot for a family, so my body will do this.”

But recently, when one TikTok creator — @reactionary_leftist (we’ll call him “Lefty” here a) because it’s shorter and b) because he seems like he’d be down with that nickname) — went to get the procedure done himself, the literature he received didn’t seem entirely encouraging to him...

“I went to get my vasectomy consult today,” he begins. “And they gave me paperwork for different options to look over, and I am so annoyed with this list I almost blew a gasket. The first option is ‘Hey, have you considered sterilizing your wife instead?’ A vasectomy is a 30 minute procedure with maybe three days of ice and light activity. It’s barely a sprained ankle. And they’re like ‘Have you tried having your wife get her tubes tied? A much more involved procedure? Have you forced your wife to get an IUD?’”

Feeling pretty indignant and annoyed, Lefty showed the list to his wife, who pointed out “only one and a half of these things require any work from the men: condoms and the rhythm method.”

Honestly, I feel this annoyance deep in my ovaries.

Because, look, I get it: doctors should be making sure patients are fully informed of their options. But a vasectomy is intended to address the fertility of men. As Lefty’s wife astutely pointed out, most of the things on the list don’t have to do with male fertility at all! They’re just suggestions on how to offload reproductive responsibility onto a man’s female partner(s). I can’t think about too many medical procedures where someone would be told “You could take care of this issue of yours, OR! Have you thought about making someone else deal with this for you?”

Not only that, but vasectomy is an underutilized option to begin with! Approximately 500,000 men choose vasectomies annually in the United States. And despite the fact that, as mentioned, vasectomies are outpatient procedures that last 10-20 minutes on average and have very few risks, they’ve been on the decline in the U.S. since 2002.

Meanwhile, approximately 700,000 women annually choose permanent sterilization (e.g. tubal ligation), a far more invasive procedure, and millions more opt for an IUD —about 14% of the female population of the U.S. — a potentially painful procedure.

And, honestly, if a guy is going in for a vasectomy, what are the chances he is not aware of those other options? I don’t think any man in America is getting a vasectomy because he was unaware of condoms or birth control pills.

Again, I understand needing to make sure patients are aware of all their options... but maybe let’s rethink simply assuming that a woman’s body is someone else’s option.