How I accepted the responsibility for contraception
I’m not young anymore, it’s a well-known fact that can’t be overlooked. So, by now, the contraception “problem” is no longer a concern, also because my wife is only slightly younger than I am. Hopefully I don’t offend her too much when I say that her biological clock, when it comes to offspring, has stepped into a time zone, in which it has discontinued to tick. Of course it wasn’t always like that, but we had already found a permanent solution for it. I had a vasectomy years ago. Snip snip.
Children? No, thank you.
In 2002 my wife and I agreed – no more children. One super amazing daughter is enough. In any case, there are already too many people on our home planet (of course I warmly welcome everyone that lives here) and there’s no real need for more. So what does one do to solve the problem of contraception, when the wife, to put it politely, simply doesn’t want anything to do with the pill? I don’t want to get into her reasons for it, too personal, but they are genuinely understandable reasons and I can say that with utmost certainty.
So then… use a condom? No, sorry, not an option.
Have my wife get her fallopian tubes cut? Not a chance, giving birth was difficult enough. Let’s not cut around there again…
In conclusion, my wife could not deal with shouldering the responsibility of contraception anymore. She just couldn’t anymore. Enough was enough.
Man’s final contraceptive – the vasectomy.
Men start to wonder. What kind of operation can be expected when getting a vasectomy exactly? What do they mean by definite and with a high possibility of being unable to reverse the cutting of the spermatic ducts? Do men grow to regret this decision in all its finality? I can answer the last question easily; I’ve closed the book on my family planning. I wouldn’t want to have another child after 40. I find this almost a bit irresponsible. It’s not that I have anything against older parents, I don’t necessarily condemn it, people can decide for themselves. I decided – nope, no more children! No more.
The question remains, is the surgery risky? What happens during the operation exactly? Would I have to stay in hospital overnight, something I really don’t like doing? So, to find the answers to these questions, I made an appointment with the urologist around the corner (back then the internet was not yet fixed into every facet of our lives). He seemed reasonable, experienced and was quite calming – don’t worry. It’s just an outpatient surgery under local anaesthesia. Two small cuts on the testicles, after which the two spermatic ducts are pulled out, cut, then sewn up. It takes about 30 minutes. That doesn’t sound too bad, let’s just get it done now.
The harmless procedure
The day of the operation had arrived. At the clinic one slips into one of those spine-chilling patient gowns and then takes a spot on a chair. Legs spread wide and the downstairs obviously nude. A kind of curtain made of green medical cloth is placed over the abdominal area. So I couldn’t really see what was going on. Did something painful happen? Well, the anaesthetic shot wasn’t very fun, it stung a bit. After that there’s a slight tug and pull, all the while the doctor and nurse were focussed on their job down under. And then it’s over. Step down off the chair and get carted off to the recovery room. After three hours, I was on my way home.
It hurt a little bit the next day and I walked everywhere with my legs spread wide apart, but the pain only lasted about a day. No further complications. Before my carefree love life began again (whoohoo!), I needed to be examined. It had to be confirmed that their were no sperm cells swimming around in the ejaculation for medical and insurance reasons. This simply meant that about two months after the surgery I had to go down to the urologist to provide some semen in a glass. One day later I got the green light – sperm cell free!
It’s done – time to get busy!
It was time for totally carefree love making. And can I just say – amazing! A completely new feeling. What’s more, after the surgery, I felt somewhat relieved. Contraception, which had been a permanent inconvenience for every relationship for the last 30 years, was finally no longer an issue. With one small side effect… back in the day I’ve told a few women this story in confidence, and I’ll be damned if I was wrong, but there was always this sparkle in their eyes… it seemed to improve the general attractiveness of men for the females, if guys could show they’re concerned about contraception and could take responsibility for it. (Note to my wife: I was never lead into temptation).
Now everyone can do it – with the Bimek SLV
So what’s the reason for me writing about this here? Well, because with the spermatic duct valve it’s not about getting a vasectomy, but about a substitution. I unfortunately did not have the option to choose a valve, like the one Clemens Bimek developed. There are two aspects that actually worth knowing about:
Firstly the surgery, during which the valve is inserted, is exactly like a vasectomy. I can therefore vouch for it; easy and with no complications. Any man can handle it without any problems or compromising their sex lives.
Number two; what’s life actually like after a surgery like this? I want to be absolutely clear here – better than ever before. There has not been a single moment in which I’ve regretted it. It just feels good that I, as a man, can take 100% responsibility for contraception.
With the Bimek SLV this will be possible for each and every man, no matter their age. Get it implanted and open or close it depending on what you need.
How many men do actually get vasectomized per year, e.g. in Germany?
In total there are around 500.000 vasectomies in Europe and the USA per year.