Are you considering getting a vasectomy but are worried that the term “shooting blanks” means that nothing will come out after orgasm and your sex life will be ruined?
Take a deep breath. In fact, just the opposite is true.
A vasectomy only eliminates sperm—which accounts for 2 to 5 percent of ejaculate—to achieve sterility. The procedure has no effect on the amount of ejaculate produced or your ability to become erect or achieve orgasm. So in other words, once you recover from the procedure it’s business as usual, minus the stress of worrying about accidental pregnancy.
So what happens to sperm after a vasectomy?
During a vasectomy, your urologist snips the vas deferens, which is the tube that leads sperm to the penis during ejaculation, and then seals the cut ends to prevent sperm transportation. Once you have had a vasectomy, your semen will be sperm-free. While the testes continue to produce sperm cells, they are no longer a part of the ejaculate mix. Instead, the sperm is reabsorbed by the body, which happens with all unused sperm cells, regardless of whether a man has had a vasectomy.
How long after vasectomy are you sterile?
Once you’ve had the vasectomy, you’re not immediately sterile and need to continue to use contraceptives to prevent pregnancy. Your post-vasectomy ejaculate will still contain sperm cells and it takes about 20 ejaculations for sperm to clear out your system—or about three months.
There’s no point of going through with the whole procedure only to end up having unprotected sex too soon and getting your partner pregnant.
One option for determining whether you have sperm-free semen is to visit your urologist to provide a sample of semen to have tested. But if you’re not comfortable returning to the doctor for the test, you can check your sterility at home with SpermCheck, an over-the-counter kit that lets you monitor your sperm count quickly and easily in the comfort of your home.
Following recovery, there will be little change to the consistency and amount of ejaculate you produce and many couples report that their sex lives improve without having to worry about pregnancy.
Why play Baby Russian Roulette when you can easily disarm your love revolver with a vasectomy?
