Can’t Always Count Vasectomies as a Miracle Contraceptive Fix
There have been some reports of men who get vasectomies who are still able to impregnate someone. It is not because they have super sperm or anything. The likely reason is that they did not follow doctor’s instructions and make follow-up visits to check the status of their vasectomy.
To give you an idea of what a vasectomy is, it is a permanent form of birth control that renders a man sterile. This is achieved by cutting the vas deferens, the primary transportation system for the sperm. By cutting these tubes and tying or cauterizing them, this prevents the sperm from reaching the semen and thereby, preventing pregnancy. The good news is that a vasectomy does not affect the sex drive or the ability to masturbate or ejaculate. However, it is not protection against possible sexually transmitted diseases. Only a condom and/or abstinence can do that.
The vasectomy is virtually 100% safe and effective against pregnancy; however the surgery is not instantaneous. This is where mistakes are made by the men when they do not adhere to doctor instructions or go in for follow-up visits. At each follow-up visit, the ejaculate of the man is tested for any motile (active) sperm. They can still be present in ejaculate up to several months after the vasectomy.
Until the follow-up tests show the ejaculate clear of the sperm, it is important that men wear a condom or have their partner exercise some sort of birth control. Because some men do not follow through with all the doctor instructions and visits, they can still get a woman pregnant. As mentioned above, it can take several months before the sperm are gone from the semen. The more ejaculating the man does in the first few months, the quicker the sperm can leave their reproductive system.
How the Follow-Up Visits Work
Men who get vasectomies usually have to submit two different ejaculate samples by the end of the second month anniversary of the surgical procedure and again a month later. If the tests show signs of sperm, the men have to submit more samples each month for the doctor to test. The goal is to achieve two tests in a row negative for motile sperm.
One quarter of the men do not follow through with the two month follow-up tests and 1/5 did not go to subsequent follow-up visits to confirm two negative tests in a row. Therein lays the reason why some men who got vasectomies still could get women pregnant. They did not follow proper instructions.
Some men plead ignorance when it comes to realizing they had to make follow-up visits to the doctor. However, the fault lays squarely on their shoulders, not the doctors. The urologists who perform the procedure never cite 100% and are always upfront about expectations in regards to the surgery as well as recovery. If a man manages to get someone pregnant after a vasectomy, then they obviously did not go to follow-up visits.
On the rare occasions when a vasectomy does not produce sterility, it can be performed again. That 1/2 of 1% usually achieves success the second time around. Of course, the men have to go to the doctor for follow-up visits to know their first operation was not the success they had hoped!
