Hi all,
Married 40 year old male. We are done having kids. I would love to have a vasectomy, but the top urologist in my town (Midwest, United States) turned me down as I have to take daily aspirin due to having a stoke in my late 20s. He said even though the risk is slight he won’t risk it for an elective procedure with how litigious society is – can’t say I blame him.
That being said, are there any alternatives on my end? I know my wife can get a tubal, but it’s so much more invasive, risky, and expensive.
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Abortion is free and covered by health insurance.
Find another doctor. Get the snip.
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Find a different doctor. This isn’t a surgery you’ll bleed out from or anything. Drive to a different, bigger town, get the surgery, maybe stay a night in a hotel, then drive home the next day. Ideally your wife drives but I know I felt fine next day after mine.
Other than that, condoms.
Definitely get a vasectomy. Easy and cheap.
Just find another doctor. I guarantee you will find someone to do it. The entire procedure takes 30 mins at most and I can’t see how there would be any worry about complications with a stroke. Using his logic you should never have a surgery of any variety again in your life no matter how minor. Sounds like he may just not want to do it for whatever reason.
An IUD is probably the next best thing, plus it decreases the frequency of her monthly cycle
Coming soon: https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/first-hormone-free-male-birth-control-pill-clears-another-milestone
Another doctor.
Find a doctor who will do it.
Your doctor is either an idiot or doesn’t want to do it for moral reasons. Find another doctor.
(and yes, a vasectomy is really the best/only choice here)
A key hole vasectomy surely represents an extremely low risk?
He ain’t the only dick doctor in the kingdom, buddy
Yeah, get a different doctor. That one’s a tool.
The “top” urologist?!? This is a really simple procedure. Mine was done by a family practice doctor, not even a urologist. Just find someone else who will do it.
My god the American education system really has failed, hasn’t it. Ever hear of condoms?
If a vasectomy has a risk if killing you, then your wife getting her tubes tied is the second option.
I don’t understand why your aspirin use would affect this procedure, though. IIRC, it uses a local anesthesia, then it’s over in a few moments. What does aspirin have to do with it?
My wife really likes the Monera IUD.
She only gets like 2-3 periods a year
I’m a licensed family medicine doctor. Here are your options:
Abstinence- lol
Pullout method or cycle timing- in real practice about as effective as abstinence. Works until it doesn’t
Condoms- only work if you use them every time
Oral contraceptive pill- she has to remember to take them every day AND they can mess with hormones and make periods weird
Nuva ring- must stay in the vagina to work and can fall out.
Birth control patch- works the same as nuva ring but can fall off your skin. Super annoying and not effective if it doesn’t stick properly.
Hormonal IUD- good for 8 years. Most effective form of birth control. Can make periods weird but isn’t as systemic as OCPs
Non-hormonal IUD- good for 10 years. Equally effective as a hormonal IUDs, can be used as emergency contraception in certain situations. Doesn’t affect hormones but HEAVY periods are a common side effect
Nexplanon- arm implant. Good for 3-5 years to prevent pregnancy, must be inserted as an office procedure. Can make periods weird or cause weight gain.
Depo shot- good for 3 months. Can make periods weird and causes weight gain. Must be redone every 3 months or does not prevent pregnancy.
Vasectomy- invasive procedure, painful, effective. Reversible (most of the time).
Tubal- about as effective as vasectomy but prone to failure. Requires general anesthesia and can’t be done under local anesthesia like vasectomies.
Also as others suggested, you can do anal/oral only or have period sex, but you know.. gross.
Ask your urologist for a referral to a urologist at a higher-level facility where additional precautions can be taken. It’s very likely a bigger institution (higher level of care) will feel comfortable handling your procedure safely.
Woman here – I have had 2 mirena IUDs and both were a good experience. Rarely having a period was a great side effect. If you can’t find another doctor it’s def worth looking into for her.
That’s insane from the urologist. Find another one. Even if you have to travel to another city and stay in a hotel. They can be done with local anesthesia.
Nurse here. That’s bizarre! I’d consult a new urologist.
OP may want to get a second opinion and travel for the procedure if necessary.
I highly recommend the no needle, no scalpel vasectomy. Quick & easy procedure. Low risk of complications. 99.99% effective with a follow-up test.
Probably afraid of getting sued. Find another one who isn’t.
Find a different doctor. A no scalpel vasectomy is quick and only requires taking a Valium 30 minutes prior to the procedure.
What is wrong with condoms man? Trojan bareskin is like the greatest condom i ever wore
You can’t get a vasectomy because you take aspirin?
That’s some shit. Find a better doctor. It’s the easiest procedure. I got mine done, I was in and out. In under 30 minutes.
> He said even though the risk is slight he won’t risk it for an elective procedure with how litigious society is – can’t say I blame him
I have a feeling he is against them morally and found some BS excuse to not tell you his real reasoning. Find another doctor, the procedure is not that hard/bad.
I got mine when I was like 33 and had my reservations. After having it done, I can tell you I wish I had done it 10 years earlier. One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life for my wife and I
This is idiotic. I was in and out of my vasectomy in less than an hour including check-in and waiting room.
If this is the top urologist in your town, you need to check the next town over because this guy is full of shit.
I’m not a doctor, but I have had one cauterize my vas deferens and I’ve bled more from a fucking vaccination than I did my vasectomy.
Did he even check with the doctor who put you on aspirin to see if a day or two off of it would be a problem?
I use my personality as a contraceptive, works great for me!
Snip snip or buttstuff my guy. Find a new dr and handle business, it’s quick.
Planned Parenthood will be happy to do it or refer you to someone who will. They even had a mobile vasectomy van rolling around here at one point (in Missouri, where abortion is currently outlawed) and I get my perimenopause care from them too. In the meantime before menopause gets here, I’ve been using the Mirena IUD, which they inserted for me and they do hundreds of them so insertion procedures go pretty well on average due to the NPs level of experience.
I just wanted to applaud you for taking the responsibility over your wife getting a much more invasive procedure.
That being said you should be able to find a doctor who will do the procedure but you will likely have to sign a waiver.
Condoms. Wife and I don’t want kids so we go that route. The birth control started giving her adverse effects after 19 years. She was put on it at 14 after we got caught by the police in my dad’s truck…
In 2026, Plan A will be released to the public. It is a non-hormonal male contraceptive that lasts 10 years and is completely reversible. If you can hold out for a year, I recommend looking into it if it’s an option for you.
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There’s a reason why he won’t do it. My doc also said the same. No Ibuprofen for 2 weeks before the surgery.
You may want to try another urologist for a vasectomy?
Also, condoms.
>can’t say I blame him.
What in the Stockholm syndrome
Dude, I take 10mg of warfarin every day after a bout of DVT a decade ago, and I got to get a vasectomy with no issue whatsoever. I just had to stop taking them like a day before. Aspirin’s blood-thinning properties are way less powerful and persistent than warfarin…
I am commenting to balance some of the top comments from Dr. Reddit. I agree with your urologist. The vasectomy procedure itself is straightforward and there are no “big vessels” in the scrotum to worry about. What is concerning are the little venous capillaries and skin vessels that will ooze a bit after every normal, uneventful vasectomy. In the usual case, the body will clot these small vessels off on its own. We do not ligate nor cauterize these. If they bleed afterward, it’s a problem. Unlike your ankle or other parts of the body with fascia and capsules that can provide compression (tamponade) to stop bleeding, the scrotum just expands and expands and… you get the point. I’ve seen post-vasectomy bleed complications come back with a scrotum the size of a watermelon requiring the operating room for hematoma evacuation. You won’t die but it’s also not ideal. I’d also be concerned about liability.
That said, it depends on what dose of daily aspirin (baby 81mg or 325mg?). And if your cardiologist clears you to hold the aspirin (minimum 7 days before, and 7 days after, the vasectomy; it takes several days for the drug to dissipate from your body). I’d check with your cardiologist first, and get a note to say ok to hold the aspirin for the procedure. And then call around to urologists with high-volume vasectomy practices. With proper informed consent, I’d do the vasectomy. – Urologist
Nurse here. The MD you see for the follow up and thinner is where you begin. They will be able to assist you in changing or possibly holding the thinner for the snip. Once this is done then see another urologist. Tell the urologist that the other Md would welcome a “peer to peer” conversation as needed.
43, had a triple bypass at 39, on a pile of meds including aspirin and other blood thinners.
I had zero issues getting a vasectomy.
Your Dr is either not knowledgeable or is simply not interested in the business. Either way finding someone to do the procedure should be a non-issue, just call around.
You get a second or third opinion.
Go to a different doc. For surgical procedures, unless they are completely novel, you don’t want the “top” doc. You want the one who has done that exact procedure thousands of times.
Find a different doctor. Most places will just have you stop taking the aspirin right before the procedure and start backup after the procedure. People have all kinds of major surgeries who take aspirin. It’s more than doable.
If a doctor is worried about you being on aspirin or any other blood thinner, you can easily go off of it for a few days before the procedure then resume it afterwards.
This can’t be a common misgiving. Just find someone else.
I haz some snips and a bottle of scotch, if that helps…
Find a different doctor.
They should be using lidocaine with epinephrine anyways to minimize bleeding, but for a procedure that minor, going off aspirin for a few days shouldn’t be serious. Have your doctor who manages the aspirin write a letter.