More and More Men Are Getting Vasectomies.

Contraceptive options for women have expanded and keep expanding with methods of birth control including but not limited to intrauterine devices (IUDs), Oral contraceptives, diaphragm, tubal ligation, and implantable hormonal contraceptive medication.    Methods for men have been and continue to be:  abstinence, use of condoms and vasectomy; just those three.   A report by Huang et al from the Pritzker School of Medicine, published in the “gold” Urology journal (UROLOGY 179:80, 2023) reveals in increase in the number of vasectomies performed on privately insured men over the period 2014 to 2021 as reflected by insurance claims.  

Over that period of time the total number of claims increased by 26%!    Partitioning the data reveals the following:   The incidence of men aged 18-64 in the us increased from 0.427% to 0.57% over the time evaluated.  The absolute increase in incidence was greatest for men with 3 or more children.  Relative increase was highest for men with no children (61% higher), men with a wife of advance maternal age (~41% higher), single men (40.6%) and also men aged 18-24 (37%).  

Options of contraception for men continue to be limited; however, compared to options for women, vasectomy offers a safe and effective minor surgical procedure, performed in either an office or ambulatory surgical setting that accomplishes permanent sterilization.  

There are many theories on why vasectomy is becoming more popular including improved surgical techniques, broader societal acceptance of the technique, agreement on family planning as well as increased numbers of young people without children choosing not to pro-create.  In my practice I perform roughly 500 vasectomies per year.   Some are on men in their 50s or later.  Some are on young men who have had children in their early twenties.   I have noted broad and increased acceptance of vasectomy over all demographics over the last 5-10 years.    I am encouraged to continue to perform this service for patients in my community and in surrounding areas.

Author

Eric K. Seaman MD Dr. Seaman is a urologist specializing in the field of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Seaman Completed his Male Infertility Fellowship under the direction of Larry I. Lipshultz MD at Baylor College of Medicine Houston in 1996. Since that time he has focused his practice on the sub-subspecialty focus area of Male fertility and infertility.