Because he was asking for a vasectomy at such a young age, Sam had prepared for the questions his doctor was going to ask him: Don’t you think you’re too young to know you don’t want kids? Could you change your mind in future? You do know reversals are expensive and aren’t always successful?
“[The doctor] actually said he had very recently changed his view,” says Sam. “And that, if I had come in half a year earlier, he would have turned me away instantly.”
His vasectomy took place a couple of months after he first contacted the clinic.
The questions from Sam’s doctor were designed to ensure he was making a decision he could live with; men under 30 are more likely to regret a vasectomy, according to guidance from NHS Scotland, external.
Dr Sarah Salkeld, a former GP who is now a medical director for MSI Reproductive Choices, a group of clinics offering various contraceptives to NHS and private patients, says a vasectomy is “very safe and effective”.
But she cautions it is important for men to “really think about” whether a vasectomy is right for them.
“We offer everyone counselling to talk about it if they want to, just to… make sure they’ve got all the information they need to make that decision.”
She says reversals are not routinely available on the NHS as there are strict criteria for having one.
The NHS website points out that other forms of contraception, external are available to men, including condoms and the fertility awareness method – avoiding sex or using condoms on the days when their female partner is most fertile.
Sam told his doctor that, while he loved kids and had a happy childhood himself, he wanted to stay focused on his job as a sound designer for video games.