Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Vasectomy
A vasectomy is a type of minor surgery that prevents a man from being able to get a woman pregnant. It is a permanent form of birth control.
A vasectomy works by cutting the vas deferens, which are the tubes that carry the sperm out of the testicles. Then the sperm can no longer reach the semen. Semen is the fluid that the penis ejaculates (releases during orgasm). Since there are no sperm, the man cannot get a woman pregnant.
The surgery is quick; it usually takes less than 30 minutes. You will probably be able to go home the same day. You may have some discomfort, bruising, and swelling for a few days. In most cases, you will fully recover in less than a week.
A vasectomy is one of the most effective forms of birth control. But it takes about three months (or about 20 ejaculations) before it is effective. You will still need to use other birth control until you know that your semen doesn't have any more sperm in it. After two to three months, your health care provider will test your semen to make sure that there are no sperm in it.
Having a vasectomy does not affect your sex life. It does not decrease your sex drive. And it will not affect your ability to get an erection or have an orgasm.
Vasectomies can sometimes be reversed, but not always. It is done with a procedure to reconnect the vas deferens. Another option if you decide to have children later might be to have sperm taken from your testicles. The sperm could then be used for in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, this may not always work. It's also important to know that both a vasectomy reversal and IVF are expensive.
Having a vasectomy does not protect you from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as HIV. Using a condom every time you have anal, vaginal, or oral sex is the only way to protect against STIs.
It sits within Pregnancy and Reproduction, Men and Male Reproductive System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Vasectomy
24 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- "Vasectomy: Right for Me?" Decision Support ToolUniversity of Pittsburgh
- Perioperative Virtual Reality Intervention for Pain and Anxiety During VasectomiesUniversity of Manitoba
- Open Label, Dose Escalation, Repeat Dose Study Evaluating YCT-529 in Healthy MalesYourChoice Therapeutics, Inc.
- Self-Adjusted Nitrous Oxide: A Feasibility Study in the Setting of VasectomyBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Patient-centered Information on Permanent ContraceptionUniversity of California, San Francisco
- Plan A Occlusion and Reversal System Feasibility StudyNext Life Sciences
Research already completed
- Plan A Novel Delivery Device StudyNext Life Sciences
- A Safety Study in Human Subjects Evaluating the Use of the Signati System for VasectomySignati Medical Inc
- Acupuncture for Vasectomy Pre-procedural Anxiety and Pain Control in the Primary Care SettingMatthew Snyder
- First in Human Study Evaluating Single Ascending Oral Doses of YCT-529 in Healthy MalesYourChoice Therapeutics, Inc.
- Comparison of Intravenous V/S Nasal Atomizer Delivery of Midazolam for Conscious Sedation for No-scalpel VasectomyUniversity of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- VasectomyEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Diagnosis and Tests
- Semen AnalysisNational Library of Medicine
Related Issues
- What Are the Risks of Vasectomy?Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Statistics and Research
- Key Statistics from the National Survey of Family Growth: VasectomyNational Center for Health Statistics
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Reproductive SterilizationNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: VasectomyNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Vasectomy. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Vasectomy, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.